Eternity
by Natarii-loves-Chocolate-milk
Summary: In a world of waring clans, Sasuke Uchiha searches for one thing, the identity of the demon who has watched over him since childhood. Time has finally caught up with him, and a three hundred year old grudge will finally be fulfilled. SasuFemNaru, ItaSaku.
1. My Guardian Angel

**E T E R N I T Y**

* * *

In a world of waring clans, Sasuke Uchiha searches for one thing, the identity of the demon who has watched over him since childhood. Time has finally caught up with him, and a three hundred year old grudge will finally be fulfilled. SasuFemNaru, ItaSaku.

**

* * *

**

CHAPTER ONE  
MY GUARDIAN ANGEL

* * *

"_**Lovers ever run before the clock" ~ William **____**Shakespeare, The  
Merchant of Venice.**_

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha watched from his seat on the tatami mats (next to his brother and in front of his parents) as the clan leader, Madara Uchiha, took his place at the podium at the front of the hall.

He had never seen the man before – he had always been too young to attend the clan meetings, but now he was six years old, and he had activated his Sharingan, younger than Itachi. He was finally eligible to attend the clan meetings, even if he would remain in training for another year, maybe two, before being sent on missions.

He stared at the man in front of the clan in curiosity, and immediately felt a bone chilling shiver of something awful trickling down his neck; he couldn't place the feeling – he had never felt it before – but it seemed to stem from the fact that everything about his leader seemed to utterly repulse him.

He wondered if it was the family resemblance – the older members of the clan had often said that he looked like Madara because of his hair, his serious nature, but he knew that wasn't it. Something inside him felt absolute distaste for the man, and he had no idea why.

It made no sense for him to hate the man – he was the best leader the clan had had since it had come into existence, and the fact he had lived as long as he had was a testament to his abilities. Besides that, he was Sasuke's somewhat distantly related Grandfather.

He was the latest descendant of Madara's granddaughter, Chidori Uchiha. The first Uchiha to wield the lightning element, and the element had been passed on down the generations all the way to his mother, and finally to him, skipping out on Itachi for some reason.

He was the man's direct ancestor, so technically he should feel noting but respect for him, but the thought that he would one day have to follow this man's orders made his skin feel... unpleasant. A calm, rational part of his mind told him to be patient, to keep his distaste for the man private.

Sasuke had listened to the calm part of his mind before, and it had _never_ led him wrong. It was almost like a voice, someone guiding him from a distance, but that was stupid – the only clan capable of that was the Yamanaka clan, and if one of them was inside Uchiha land, they would be _killed._

The man called for attention, and the hubbub in the room died to a still silence. He began to talk about recent excursions into Senju land, just over the border of their own territory. Itachi was one of the ninja's that stood to give their reports on how the border raid had gone, and he felt a little jealous.

He would have to learn to manipulate his both his elements, and probably master a specific weapon to a mediocre level before he would be allowed on the most simple of missions. He was forced to wait till the end of the reports before his part in the evening arrived.

"Now, as I understand it, we have several new faces with us this month – please stand up an introduce yourselves, and tell us your capabilities so far" Madara instructed.

Sasuke didn't like his voice at all – it sounded mean – but he pulled himself onto his feet in front of his mother all the same, casting a brief gaze at the others who had also stood up. He could see his cousin Tobi, and another cousin named Sai standing up. They were both several years older than him.

He watched as they both introduced themselves to the gathering, before his turn came – it came out a little mechanically thanks to a combination of nerves and dislike, but his mother had drilled him for weeks on this after his Sharingan had manifested so he managed it.

"My name is Sasuke; I'm six, and I manifested at two thirds of my Sharingan. My elements are Fire and Lightning, but I have yet to specify in a particular weapon" he said loudly.

There was a brief muttering amongst the gathered clan members as he stood awkwardly; his parents had been gushing about his Sharingan almost as much as they had when his lightning element had been specified.

He didn't really understand it, but his mind (a sort of conscience, or imaginary friend) told him not to worry, so he didn't. It was still odd hearing people muttering about him though.

It was even more odd seeing the raised eyebrow on his ultimate grandfather's face – he looked vaguely _amused_ by the knowledge he had just shared with the clan for some reason, and that made him uneasy. Making someone you disliked interested in you, for whatever reason, couldn't possibly be good. He wasn't tall or smart like Itachi, but he knew _that_ much.

"Two thirds? In both eyes? That's quite an achievement, especially for a boy your age – you said your elements included Lightning?"

Sasuke nodded uneasily – he didn't like the sudden interest the man was giving him. He knew nothing about Madara, hardly anyone did; he was very secretive, and the only thing that seemed common knowledge was that he and his brother Izuna had somehow lived for three hundred years since the start of the clan wars, and didn't look a day over thirty.

"That would make you one of Chidori's descendants then... You're one of Mikoto's boys aren't you? Could you repeat your name for me?"

He sounded excruciatingly polite, too polite for Sasuke's comfort, but he nodded again before repeating his name.  
"My name is Sasuke, sir" he replied, trying to keep his distaste to himself – no one seemed to notice.

Madara remained intrigued though, taking in his image; he examined every detail from the structure of his face to the small birthmark on his neck – the one that looked like a bad scar – with almost religious fervency. Sasuke didn't know what was wrong with that look; it seemed to be a casual observance on the surface, but there was something that sent that unpleasant trickle down the back of his neck.

"You look a lot like my son... A lot like him, dare I say it, almost identical..." he mused.

He looked towards Sasuke's mother, a visible glimmer in his dark eyes.

"It seems you have a sense of humour, great-granddaughter mine – I assume the name is a mere coincidence?" he asked curiously.

Sasuke felt his mother rise behind him, and give a small bow as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"My father suggested the name sir; as you know, Itachi did not receive the Lightning element, but the Water element. He thought it would be lucky to name him after your granddaughter at first, but we thought Chidori would have been a strange name for a boy, so we decided on her father's name instead" she explained.

Madara glanced at them for several moments, before bursting into laughter, much to the surprise of the gathered clan members.

The laughter brought that awful feeling on his skin once again – it wasn't fear, he knew fear inside out. He privately felt fear every time he used his chakra to form one of the family fire techniques, but this was something _else_. It was more - if equally - unpleasant, and for some reason horribly familiar.

The man stopped laughing, and turned an almost eager, direct gaze on his own eyes.

"How intriguing... How absolutely tantalizing! Well, congratulations, Sasuke. If your achievements so far are any indication, I think we can safely expect some great things from you."

He turned back to more important matters, like the Hyuugas and Senjus, finally allowing Sasuke to retake his seat on the tatami mats feeling worse than he had at the beginning of the meeting; when Madara mentioned his achievements, he didn't think he was talking about his element or his Sharingan.

* * *

Itachi gave his brother a curious look as they walked home; he didn't think anyone else had noticed, but something about Madara had set Sasuke on edge.

His brother was well enough trained to keep his emotions from showing in public, but he had noticed the almost subconscious way in which he had shrunk away from Madara as he had spoken to him. He didn't really understand that – Sasuke got along with most of the clan, partly for his element and strong, early Sharingan (signs of a strong future fighter), but mostly because he was just a nice kid.

Why did Sasuke seem to dislike Madara so much? The man was a little odd, but he was from a different time. It was explainable given how old he really was... Truth be told, he'd never been much of a fan of Madara himself, but he'd never had such a viscously distasteful reaction as Sasuke had (well, viscious to anyone but him).

It was like Sasuke's fear of fire; no one else could see it, but every time his brother practised the fire ball, or the phoenix flower technique, there was a sick revulsion that appeared in his eyes the minuet the flames appeared.

He had asked Sasuke about it once, but he hadn't been able to explain it himself. For some reason, he just hated fire. Both dislikes were strange, but still not without their own bias.

* * *

Sasuke was ten years old when his brother disappeared.

He was, at best, gloomy as he filed into the clan temple with the rest of the Uchihas, sliding in in one of the front rows beside his mother and father – there had been a mission into Hyuuga territory, deep into it. The dispatch had yet to return, and his brother was one of the people missing.

As was tradition, two weeks after going missing, the priest would hold a ceremony to invoke luck, to help the missing Uchihas find their way home; on the altar were offerings of certain flowering branches, nuts, certain yellow, orange, and other fiery coloured plants, all surrounding the bronze statue of a raging, nine tailed fox. They were changed every day.

Sasuke had never been too interested in religion, even as a young child his mind had been on other things, but he knew the basics: the offerings were a pleading appeasement to the guardian demon supposed to reside and watch over the Uchihas and the land they occupied. Apparently, the demon wasn't too genial towards its charges, so a lot of appeasement was required.

The older generation always begged Madara to make better offerings, fully convinced that the bad droughts and monsoons that wreaked havoc over most of their land were a result of low piety, but Madara remained adamant that the flowers and tree branches were enough, alongside the occasional few slices of tofu, and a chicken.

He listened in boredom as the priests droned on in a dull monotone, begging the guardian demon for assistance in guiding the lost clan members home, or to wherever else they were supposed to go. He didn't really believe a few old prunes' chanting and waving some daises and almond branches around was going to help his brother, but then again... It couldn't possibly hurt could it?

The part of his mind that always seemed to have a mind of its own (he sometimes thought it sounded like a woman) told him to stop being a worry wart. Deciding to be optimistic as instructed, he turned his gaze towards the pale blue, almost purple flames flames of blessed fire warily.

All thoughts of worry about Itachi disappeared as one of the priests touch the burning torch to the offerings. He had never liked fire – something only Itachi knew of – but he hated holy fire the most. It had an unnatural colour that always made him sick with irrational rage.

Everything about it was repugnant to him. The flames seared the petals, crackled and spat sparks as they scoured the bark of branches, licking the base of the idol in the centre of the flames. It was his first time to one of these holy ceremonies – there wasn't much call for them bar weddings and funerals, and his family were all still alive – but his first instinct was to douse those flames as they encroached the bronze fox.

The twisted expression of anger on the snarling jaws of the solid metal animal had been odd before, but as the flames flickered their eerie light, encroaching the statue, it looked more like a shrieking agony. A horribly deep-rooted agony that could only be felt from loss, not of life, but something else. He didn't realise he had been staring until he felt his breath tightening in his throat.

It felt like something was suffocating him; was this a panic attack? He'd never had one before...! He wasn't someone prone to panic. Besides, this wasn't just a simple shortness of breath; he could feel something bruising his skin as it tightened, forcing a sharp pain into the bones supporting his head.

This was awful, he could feel the air around him, but he couldn't breathe... His hands grasped at his throat, trying to remove whatever foreign obstruction was strangling him

_'It's not real. Your imagination is feeding it. If you think about something else, it will pass. Think about something else. Think about anything. Think about my voice. Think Sasuke, Madara is looking your way!'_

Sasuke thought about the voice of his mysterious female conscience. The more he thought about it, the more he began to wonder if it really was his conscience. She was always there, but he didn't seem to know what she was thinking the way she would if she was his conscience.

She was completely separate from him, but at the same time, she was not. She was not dangerous, irritable perhaps, and quick to turn so, but not dangerous. She actually looked after him, and cared about his welfare.

And familiar – so achingly familiar that he wondered how he had never noticed her as a separate entity before. He knew this person, this woman separate from but trapped inside his mind. He knew everything about her, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't grasp his own knowledge. Why couldn't he understand, remember?

_'Not yet Sasuke. I'll tell you one day, but you aren't old enough yet. Train – train like you've never trained before, and wait. When Madara makes his move, You'll know, and that's when you'll be ready. I promise.'_

In all the years he had known this voice to be part of him, which had been for as long as he could remember, he couldn't remember her breaking a single one of the few promises she had made. No matter how many dire straights he had fallen into, she had always led them out, even on that first solo mission into Senju territory.

She was a complete unknown, but she was the only person besides Itachi that he implicitly trusted. Perhaps, _perhaps_, he trusted this mysterious voice more than his brother.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, what happened? Are you all right?"

The strangling feeling was gone, and he saw his mother's face staring into his, any sense of public decorum replaced by panic. Even his stoic father was frowning more than usual as he stood beside her.

He could still feel the bruising on his neck, and judging from his mother's alarmed brush of fingers against the sore skin, they were visible too. Once she was certain he was not going to suffocate, she wrapped her arms around him.

"Oh thank god! It's bad enough with Itachi missing, I can't loose you too!" she sobbed.

Her let her hug him as he glanced towards Madara – he was shouting orders, presumably under the impression someone had used a technique on him and had infiltrated the main compound.

Sasuke caught the mixed expression of pensive thought, eagerness, and surprisingly, panic, amongst the age lines around his eyes. Sasuke didn't like that look, so he turned his attention back to his mother, hiding his face from the man's vision in her shoulder.

If Madara could see the ovular stars in his eyes that he had caught sight of, reflected in the bronze statue, things would have been awkward at the very least.

* * *

Two months after that ceremony, Itachi returned to the compound without anything more than a few scratches and the weariness of travel.

Sasuke could sense there was something a little different about his brother though, and he suspected it had not gone unnoticed by Madara either. Sasuke waited three days before deciding it was the right time to start questioning his brother. He waited until he was certain that Madara was out of the compound, before asking his brother what had really happened during his training session.

His brother was – unsurprisingly – unsurprised by the knowledge that his slight change had not been undetected by his younger sibling. They shared everything, and so he had no qualms about revealing his location for the past two months.

"Sasuke... I think I met a _demon_..."

It was like a bell clanging, a key fitting into a lock, finishing a childish board puzzle – the moment his brother spoke those words, he knew that the female mind that existed in the back of his own belonged to a demon of some kind.

It didn't alarm him really – he had always known there was something... _beyond-human_ about her, and had considered demons once or twice in the past, but his brother's revelation was like confirmation.

"I was blundering around in the middle of Yamanaka land, trying to get back to the ravine leading to the west side of our territory, and she saved my life. I had been heading down the wrong ravine – you know how easy they are to get mixed up – and she stopped me before I hit Senju territory..." Itachi continued, a sense of amazement in his voice.

Sasuke didn't blame him. Demons kept to themselves – many of the kids his own age didn't even believe in them any more, but his mother was a bit of a superstitious one, so he and Itachi knew all the legends about them.

His namesake was supposed to have run into some bad business with the guardian of the Uchihas – something that had resulted in the horrible weather they had . Even the woman inside his head only spoke directly to him in times of importance. She never answered him unless she wanted to.

"Are you sure she was a demon?" he asked his brother.

Itachi frowned, before nodding.

"I think she was young though – she healed me, but she acted like she hadn't had much experience with it before, and her hair was pink. Not red, actually pink. I don't think she realised it wasn't a normal hair colour, and she didn't seem to know much about civilisation. She didn't even know what year it was... She was an absolute crybaby too..." he explained.

Sasuke thought about the voice in the back of his mind; there was always been an odd feeling of _age_ with it. Everything she told him was as if it came from personal experience.

He didn't bother asking the voice herself; ever since that incident in the temple, she had been deathly silent, and Sasuke knew from his own experience that she was not going to answer him. He supposed the new epiphany would have to be enough for now.

* * *

Sasuke woke up drenched in sweat, feeling as if he had just been in the presence of a huge bonfire. Sitting up in his futon, he slid open the paper door leading to the outdoor walkway to get a breeze of cold October air.

This happened every year; on October 10th, for as long as he could remember, he had woken feeling hot and sweaty, and utterly lost, as if something of greater value than his life had been taken from him. The day was always just as bad.

He stared at the clouds covering the stars pensively; something was happening to him.

He was old enough to notice that now, to notice all the niggling little things besides the female demon that hadn't spoken to him since he was ten years old – two whole years now. He didn't really know what, or if it was dangerous, and he had no idea how Madara was involved in it, but he knew it had everything to do with the demon.

Itachi had been acting strange recently. Well, he had been acting strange since he returned from his mission and had a run in with a supposed demon of his own. He kept leaving on lone scouting missions into dangerous Yamanaka land, despite the risks that accompanied such a venture.

Sasuke knew he was visiting his rescuer, and while he was glad his brother had found someone (even if they were a demon), Madara had also noticed Itachi's recurring missions and absences from the clan meetings.

If he kept this up, the clan would send spies after him, if they hadn't already done so. He wouldn't put anything past the ancient man who led their clan – the man was a monster far worse than any demon. He knew that on pure instinct, and Sasuke had learned to listen to his instincts.

A noise from his parents' room drew his attention; it wasn't a good noise. It sounded like something being muffled. He recognised the clang of metal slicing through skin well enough from his own use of the Katana to put things together. He headed down the walkway, carefully to avoid being overheard by the attacker, before throwing open the door to his parents room.

What met his eyes was a scene of horror; the attacker had left through the inner doorway, but had left two bloodstained corpses behind him. Even before he rushed to his parents sides, pulling his mothers body towards him, he knew they were beyond help.

There was too much blood on the floor he knelt on, on the bodies, on the walls, on the familiar glinting sword that he had left in the entryway just that afternoon.

Dropping his mother gently back to the floor, he stumbled over the floorboards and picked it up; that was his sword. It was a relic from his namesake, the Kusanagi. His mother and father had given it to him once the trainers had deemed him at a mediocre level of use with normal swords, and now it was covered in their blood.

_When Madara makes his move, You'll know, and that's when you'll be ready. I promise._

The words flickered through his mind, an almost distant memory, but he finally understood what they meant. Madara had done this – for whatever reason, Madara had ordered the execution of his parents. Maybe he had done it himself. He wasn't really certain.

The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by appalled and horrified clansmen beside the bodies of his parents, covered in their blood, and equally stained sword in hand.

* * *

_**Yup. Another new story. I set it in the clan wars this time, with demon folklore! Another challenge - next I'm thinking a crime story... Well, technically I've already started writing it but not on the computer - it has some wrinkles to be ironed out first. As far as I know the only other main pairings in this are going to be ShikaIno and... Oh, and past SasuIno... ish. Possibly some NejiHina too.**_

_**Title is **_**'My Guardian Angel'**_** by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.**_

_**Anyways, hope you liked it.  
Nat.  
xxx**_


	2. You'll Be In My Heart

**E T E R N I T Y**

* * *

In a world of waring clans, Sasuke Uchiha searches for one thing, the identity of the demon who has watched over him since childhood. The sands of time have finally caught up with him, and a three hundred year old grudge will finally be fulfilled. SasuFemNaru. ItaSaku.

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER TWO**  
**YOU'LL BE IN MY HEART**

* * *

_"__**Love looks not with eyes, but with the mind" ~ William  
Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream.**_

* * *

Once Sasuke realised the gravity of the situation he had been unwittingly found in, he did the only thing that came to mind; he barged through the group surrounding him, and fled the compound. It wasn't a very good decision, but it was the only one he could make at that particular moment.

He headed for the land held by the Akimichi clan; they were fairly neutral in the skirmishes and wars between their border companions, happy with their own chunk of earthy terrain. Once there, he took some time to catch a couple of rabbits, but other than that he didn't stop at all.

He didn't believe for a moment that Madara did not want him dead, but even the clan head needed a justifiable reason to execute one of their own. His parents had never been very supportive of some major decisions he had made, so it had probably been very easy to fabricate disloyalty of his whole direct family. He needed to find Itachi!

It took a month for him to make his way through neutral territory to Yamanaka land – he had to travel at night to avoid being seen. Yamanakas had been enemies of the Uchihas for hundreds of years.

As he understood it, the wife of his namesake had been a Yamanaka, and her clan had been none too pleased when she left her clan, and had even gone so far as to suggest kidnap. It had been the Yamanaka woman who had introduced the lightning element into the clan through her daughter.

So, despite his distant relation to the owners of the land, he had to keep his head down if he wanted to keep it. He didn't really know where he was going – his initial plan had been to scour the country in search of Itachi, dodging Yamanakas and any Uchiha head-hunters that might have been tailing him. It really wasn't his best idea, but he didn't dare stop.

He knew the ravine that Itachi had been heading down when he first met this demon of his, so his best bet would be to head for that at the opposite end. He didn't even know if Itachi was still alive – he'd heard stories of demons waylaying travellers and eating them. What if Itachi had been eaten?

'_You're thinking of the snow women in the mountains. Demons aren't nearly as crude. Humans taste disgusting anyway. Stop worrying about your brother and get to that ravine – Itachi is in good hands, and you have head-hunters only a day behind you.'_

The voice surprised him – he hadn't heard from his demon companion directly for nearly two years – but her warning about the head hunters certainly upped his pace through the under brush.

The feeling of his mind being somewhat occupied remained, and it had been so long since he had felt it that it was almost foreign. As he pushed his way through the mountain forests of Yamanaka land, he asked a question that had been gnawing at him for some time.

"You said once Madara made his move, I'd be ready... what am I supposed to be ready _for?_" he asked.

He had not spoken directly with the voice before – she always seemed to answer his questions before he could ask them when he was younger – and he wasn't really certain of how else to do so. Speaking to himself felt a little strange though, and he instinctively searched the forest for someone of something to address his questions to.

_Hmph. I had been hoping you would have been a bit older before telling you anything, but I guess I should have expected that rat to try something earlier than I had anticipated. I suppose I can give you something, since you asked, but I'm not telling you everything. Understand?_

"All right, but what are you supposed to be telling me? I don't even know who you are..." he grumbled, leaping from one branch to another.

_Do you want me to tell you or not? Just trust me and keep your mind clear – this is hard work when you're tense._

Sasuke didn't feel any more calm, but did his best to relax as he had been instructed. He felt something like a haze wash over him, not enough to make him sleepy though. It was relaxing though, and it let his mind drift from his current conundrum to imagination.

He remembered smells first; the wet earthy smell of a cave surrounded by pine and grass, and the salty tang of the sea – he had never been to the sea before. It was one of the best things he could remember entering his nose.

There was a thick smell of smoke too - even the smell of roasted food was clouded by the smoky scent of wood fires. It was like a home, but different and better than the one he had been raised in. It was all amazing, but the most important thing he remembered was the lonely company of a single person, a woman.

He couldn't see her face, but the brief snatches of conversation that seemed to waft into his ears were immediately recognisable. The demon – his companion in the cave had been the demon who seemed to live inside his mind.

Before he could delve any further into the smelly imaginings, it was gone, and he was back in the dank undergrowth of the Yamanaka mountain forests. He immediately realised that, whilst those were his memories, they were not from his life.

They couldn't have been – he had never met a demon directly. He highly doubted he had met the demon when he was a baby, so how could he remember them? He knew he had met the demon before – there was no doubt of that now – the only question was how.

He came out on the edge of a cliff-face, the bottom of a huge crack in the earth hundreds of meters below him. After just over one month of travel, he had finally reached the ravine in which he hoped to find his brother.

* * *

Sasuke was exhausted after his climb down the side of the cliff-face. However, the floor of the ravine was flat – it was really more of a small, narrow valley than a ravine – and he found a small, but seemingly well used path on one side of the glacial waterfall leading to the river below.

He had been following it for perhaps two hours when he made out two figures on the edge of his vision. Moving quickly to avoid being spotted, he took refuge behind one of the large straggling boulders that lined the river and path. After perhaps another five minuets' he began to hear their voices.

"Sakura, where are we _going?"_

Sasuke immediately recognised his brother's voice, but if the Yamanakas knew he had made his way into their territory, it wouldn't be hard for them to make an illusion that beguiled his Sharingan – all that meddling around in peoples minds and all. Instead of leaping down, he stayed where he was, trying to look for a clue that would give him confirmation of their identities.

"I already told you! I caught the scent of someone I know heading this way! I can't believe he's still _alive..._ I'll bet Tsunade-sama extended his life – that's the _only_ explanation..." the girl said.

Peering around the stone, he could see that they were just coming into view, and Sasuke could easily make out her bright pink hair (he blinked several times in disbelief).

"...I don't know how he _could_ have survived that though! I checked his body myself once they were done with it. Tsunade-sama said his neck had been clean broken... even _Tsunade-sama_ couldn't fix a broken neck, the only one who could have done that was..."

As they drew closer he could make out green eyes frowning, before she began muttering to herself in some snarling, yelping language that seemed to give his brother a headache after a few seconds – it was horribly noisy even from where he hid behind his rock.

That left him in no doubt that this pink haired girl was the demon his brother had mentioned; demon tongue was – according to Madara anyway – completely inaudible to human ears, and hearing too much could at best cause permanent deafness, and at worst kill them.

He moved out from behind the rock with relief clear on his face, taking care to flare a little of his chakra for Itachi to recognise – the frown on his brother quickly morphed into recognition, but it was the recognition on the demon girl's – Sakura's – face that surprised the both of them.

"Sasuke! It's really you isn't it?" she yelled, having thrown her arms around his neck tears flowing from her eyes and squeezing the daylights out of him.

He looked to his brother for help; _'get this weird crybaby demon off of me!' - _his eyes pleaded – but Itachi seemed just as perplexed as him. Sakura for her part, had turned to examining his face, tears draining as her face took on a frown of perplexity.

"Wait... you _can't_ be him! You're too young! But you look exactly like him...!" Sakura murmured, her hands either side of his face, staring at him intently as she half-knelt in the muddy path.

She didn't really look like a demon, but she wore a short, sleeveless, plain red yukata, and a bundle of small pouches looped through a length of cord tied low on her waist, a style that hadn't been seen for years in any of the occupied areas around here for at _least_ two hundred years.

Most notable though was the light green tinge on her hands, and presumably her bare feet. She shouldn't have been able to walk around like that in these glacier-prone mountains, but it seemed to be the most natural thing in the world for her. Also prominent was the lively flowery scent that wafted from her.

It wasn't like the earthy, salty sea-scent that he had been shown by the demon inside his mind. If he had to explain it, he would say the one his demon had shown him was a more autumn scent, where Itachi's was more spring-like, but it was a very rough explanation. She seemed very interested in his eyes for some reason.

_I see you're as flighty as ever Sakura – you should have stayed in the other realm longer if you didn't pick it up right away._

Sakura's eyes widened in alarm, obviously hearing the woman's voice echoing inside his mind.

_Y-Youre alive Sempai? But there's been no sign of li-_  
_This is why you should have stayed longer – there are ways around that sort of thing Sakura! Tsunade should never have called you here if you didn't recognise me until now!_

Sakura looked a little sheepish at the admonishment.

_Tsunade-sama has been teaching me what I missed, but she needed the help! She couldn't manage all the healing magyk by herself! Holy fire is-_

_That's enough of that Sakura. I know how holy fire works better than you do, don't I? Now get out of his head – he's not old enough yet._

Sakura's eyes widened again.

_I was right then? But how?  
__A lot of effort Sakura. A lot of effort, time, patience, and help from Tsunade. Now leave._

And then it was like they had never been there at all; Sakura was hopping back to her feet, and Itachi was giving him a surprised welcoming hug. He knew that the two demons had spoken together, but there was fog in his mind.

It was the same with the memory of the temple ceremony two years previously – he knew what the ceremony was for, and remembered the parting words of the female demon, but what had occurred to warrant them was unclear. He knew it had not be pleasant, but why it had been unpleasant was a mystery.

He knew the two demons had conversed, and probably knew each other – but what they had discussed remained a complete enigma.

* * *

"They're dead?"

Itachi looked aghast; Sasuke had just finished telling him about their parents and the suspected fowl play on Madara's part. His mind was somewhat absent from the story though; he was busy examining the cave Sakura had led them to.

He had the feeling of familiarity again, and remembered the smells that his demon had seemingly pulled out from thin air – there had been a smell of a cave amongst them.

Sakura had already introduced herself properly, but he felt like he had met her before – her cheeriness seemed glaringly familiar. She was 500 years old (Sasuke had choked on that revelation), but apparently Itachi's notion of her being a young demon was correct.

From what he had gathered, Sakura was still a baby by demon standards, and had only been allowed to come to _'the human realm'_ early because of a specific request. She was still learning whatever it was that demons learnt. He did note she was cagey on who had sent her, referring only to them as _'lord boss man'_.

Looking around, Sasuke was further given evidence that Sakura was from a completely different time – she dried meats and hung them from a row of poles wedged into the cracks at the cave, above a shelving unit that seemed to have been hand-made.

It had bowls either carved from wood or tightly woven from grasses. There was all manner of green things and dried flowers and roots in those bowls. Animal skins covered the floor in one part of the cave – he assumed that was for sleeping, and in another section, she seemed to be in the midst of curing hides for leather.

His eyes were on the fire-pit though – the smell of burning wood was another of those familiar smells, but it was still archaic. Ninja's didn't use fire-pits like that in their homes any more – if they were out in the country and needed to cook something, then yes, but the cooker had been developed quite a number of years ago.

The biggest hint though, was the fact that Sakura lived in a cave. A cave. It was a big cave, close to water, wood, and had plenty of animals running around in the mountain forest surrounding it, but the fact remained it was still a cave.

_I'd get used to life without conveniences Sasuke – you're going to be living in caves for a long time. What's wrong with caves anyway? All demons live in caves! They're much sturdier than those silly houses you humans insist on building, and this is such a nice cave! Sakura was lucky to find one like this in these mountains! Big ones are hard to find up here!_

"I'm glad you feel at home, but I'm not a demon!" he muttered, trying to keep his voice to himself.

This really wasn't the time for Itachi to find out he had been in the company of a demon for – presumably – all twelve years of his life. Itachi was mumbling to himself, trying to figure out why Madara killed their family and placed the blame on the two of them – given all his absences, there was little chance the clan would not suspect him too.

Sasuke ignored him (he was used to his brother's strange thinking habits), instead turning his attention to a narrow tunnel leading further back into the lower cliff-face. There was a dim light at one end of the tunnel, suggesting more caves beyond the one they were currently using.

For a quick moment, he felt like getting up and poking his nose around to find out where the light was coming from, but Sakura – who had been quick to catch the direction of his gaze – snapped the fingers of one hand together, and he felt a surge of thick, powerful chakra.

Much to his surprise, the rock itself seemed to grow at angular intervals, filling the space till the tunnel entrance had completely disappeared. His eyes quickly widened; he had never actually seen such an obvious display of power form a demon before.

He had never even seen one either – Sakura was the only demon that he remembered meeting at any point in time; his own didn't really do anything – she spoke, and she had made those smells, and she seemed to know when he was in danger, but she had never made rock _grow_ right in front of his nose.

"I did it! I actually did it this time!"

Sakura's cheerful out cry and victory jig somewhat ruined the building feeling of awe, and any chance she had of Sasuke ever taking her seriously.

* * *

Sakura, for all her bubbliness, was not above irritability, and she had a very quick temper.

The first time Sasuke had tried to defy this temper she had sent him from the bank into the freezing river with the flick of one finger. Sasuke quickly learned not to ignore her requests or otherwise aggravate her again.

Itachi had chosen that moment to try and explain how a demons power came from their affinity, like their chakra elements. He didn't succeed very well, so once he had fished himself from the freezing water, dried off, and started de-furring what looked like a boar skin, Sakura explained it instead.

Demons were usually affiliated with an element, and a season – together, it was their affinity, and it was that which helped_ 'lord boss man' _decide which demon went to which clan. Her element was earth, and her season spring (for some reason, this did not surprise him in the slightest). Like ninjas she could have multiple elements, and her second was water.

Sakura drew her strength from the very rocks in the earth around her. With water and a unity with spring, she was perfect to be the guardian of the Yamanakas.

Ninjas who used plant based poisons in their arsenal, used flowers as a primary export to friendly nations, and spent their lives flitting from one mind to another, in constant connection with the rest of their small clan, needed someone who would be able to keep up with them, but keep them down to earth at the same time.

There had been older, much more qualified demons for the job, but Sakura's early proficiency and awakening of her water element were the deciding factors – water meant growth, healing, and Sakura was very good at healing, despite being new to the demon world.

Sasuke thought about that for a long time before muttering a query to his own demon – Itachi had long since discovered his passenger (eight years had passed since he had arrived in the ravine), and while he didn't seem too worried after some vauge explanation from Sakura, he did get a little wild eyed when Sasuke began to talk seemingly to thin air.

"Do you have one of these affinity things?" he asked quietly.

_Of course I do – mine is a bit more special though because I have an extra element. Sort of._

"Well? What is it? Or is that another thing I'm not old enough for yet?" he grumbled in reply irritably.  
He could almost feel the roll of her eyes, despite never having seen them.

_Patience is a virtue Sasuke, you should try to encourage it. My affinity is to autumn; I have the elements of earth and wind. My extra one comes from my wind element – if you know how, you can control the weather, and I picked up the water element from playing around with the rain – and a little of lightning. I haven't quite got the knack of that one though._

Sasuke did not know if he should be amazed by the idea of manipulating the weather, or appalled by her nonchalant attitude towards it – she spoke as if making a rain cloud was a mere after thought, or even a mild irritation.

_I'm much older than Sakura, and I live close to the sea, so I've had plenty of time and opportunity to practice._

There she went again, answering unasked questions, or justifying unvoiced complaints or things he noticed as odd. He knew she was not reading his mind – he knew her well enough to know she was someone who respected privacy where it was needed, even if her odd comment on meandering thoughts were not.

She just seemed to know him, or at least, she had a good idea of how his mind worked. The logical part of his mind told him that was because she had been with him since he was... well, probably since he was born. Even his own mother had had much more trouble understanding him than she did.

The demon was not a mother figure in any sense of the role – she'd had no qualms with swearing at him when he was a child, and only seemed to talk to him when it was necessary.

That had mostly been around Madara when he was still part of the clan, but now it was whenever his eyes drew onto the spot that Sakura had sealed away years ago, or when the _'youngster's'_ tongue began to slip towards his demon a little too much.

He supposed he could always try blowing the wall up with a fire or lightning technique, but that wouldn't be right; for one thing, Sakura and his demon probably had good reason to hide some aspects of their life, and for another, he did not want to be flicked into the river again because of the wrath such an action would incur from Sakura.

Not only was it embarrassing and cold, but it hurt like hell.

* * *

_**Chapter Two; can't tell how often I'm going to update this story. I have to be in a specific mood to write it and even though I started this last summer, I've only recently reached chapter 7. I like it, but I've limited the number of pages I write and chosen a bigger font than usual to try and get more with less... **_

_**I don't like being restricted like that, so it's difficult. It's kind of insane limiting myself like that, but it's something I need to improve on if I'm going to take a Lit degree next year. I think. I'm having a go at everything right now, just in case. I just wish my lapto would co-operate with me...**_

_**Chapter title is **_**'You'll Be In My Heart'**_** by Phil Collins.  
Hope you all liked!**_


	3. Missing

**E T E R N I T Y**

* * *

In a world of waring clans, Sasuke Uchiha searches for one thing, the identity of the demon who has watched over him since childhood. The sands of time have finally caught up with him, and a three hundred year old grudge will finally be fulfilled. SasuFemNaru. ItaSaku.

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE  
MISSING**

* * *

"_**Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within  
his bending sickle's compass come" ~ William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116.**_

* * *

As usual, on October 10th, he woke up sweating and shaking from a dream he couldn't remember.

This time however, there was another feeling amongst the fear and horror that lingered for a few moments on awakening. Much softer, but it raged with the same strength as either of the two unpleasant emotions. Then the grief came; it was so much stronger this year – he could feel the thud of his heart against his ribcage as his eyes burned.

His Sharingan, his Mangekyo Sharingan that had been with him since he was ten years old, had activated from the overwhelming emotion. He didn't know how he had achieved it – Itachi hadn't died, and he hadn't believed he had when the temple ceremony had been performed, so there was no reason for him to have it.

He glanced over at the pile of furs and hand woven blankets that his brother shared with Sakura; Itachi was sleeping soundly, but Sakura was sitting up watching him, quite unreadable other than the tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. After a few moments she quietly stood on soundless feet and crossed to his own bed, before wordlessly wrapping her arms around his neck.

Then he felt her slip into his mind in the same way his demon existed there.

_I can't watch this any more! This had gone on long enough - you can't keep doing this to him! This happens every year, at the exact time! Why can't you just let him remember?_

_I know that Sakura, but he needs to remember by himself, or it wont work the way it should!_

Naruto? He realised that it was the name of his demon – it was the first time he had heard anyone mention her name. She had never told him, and Sakura had always been careful to never mention it when they talked about her.

_He is remembering! He is, but if this carries on at this pace it will all fade away! His essence remembers the emotion Naruto but you've given his mind nothing to catalyst the memories themselves!_

He knew they had talked like this before, but he couldn't remember the conversation, but he had just accepted it as something he didn't need to know, the same way he didn't need to know his demons name. It seemed normal to refer to her without a name, but he remembered hearing it somewhere all the same.

_I know that Sakura, but there's nothing here to act as one! He finds you familiar, but you only met him once! If he visited Tsunade then the location alone would be enough... _

_Naruto, that's a death-trap waiting to be walked into! We'd have to go right through Senju land to reach the coast! And what am I supposed to do with my cave while I'm gone?_

Coast? Naruto had said she lived on the coast once hadn't she? Did she mean visit her own cave? Those smells...! They had been from her cave! He had met Naruto before – he was certain of it now, but when? When had there been time for him to achieve that?

_I may be an invalid, but I can manage that much Sakura! My barriers are better than yours! _

He could feel the disbelief raging from Sakura through his mind, as if she had snorted if the two were conversing face-to-face.

_Really? Then how did he get through your barrier after all your efforts to keep his ilk out?  
I haven't the foggiest Sakura... I really don't know.  
...Are you really sure taking him there will do the trick? _

_I'm positive Sakura. He just needs something more familiar – and time. All the things he's seen or noticed aren't of much notable significance, or have been too short to have any impact. He spent months there... there's no way he can't remember something._

Sakura was gone from his mind as soon as her arms were removed from his neck; as always, he knew that there had been a conversation between the two demons, most likely involving him, and for the most part, it was like there had been no conversation at all.

This time, however, one word remained in his mind. As Sakura returned to the bed where Itachi lay lightly snoring with a pensive chew of her lower lip, Sasuke thought about the name he could finally place to the voice of his demon.

Naruto. Fishcake. Whirlpool. Maelstrom. It didn't really seem that familiar – there were other things that struck much louder chords in him – but it was strong enough for him to remember after one of those mysterious internal conversations.

It seemed to fit her though, based on what he knew of her. What better name for a demon with a horrifically short temper, and who played with the weather for entertainment, than maelstrom?

* * *

Sasuke held his breath beneath the cover of a gorse bush as the scouting party of Senjus moved past the thicket he had hidden himself in.

They had been travelling for two weeks; when morning had dawned on October 10th, Sakura had pointedly informed them that they would be travelling to the far western edge of continent into the southern part of Uchiha land. The fastest way there was to cut directly across three absolute no-go areas for any Uchiha, rouge or not.

First Sakura's Yamanaka territory, then Hyuuga occupied area, and the Senju land they were currently moving through; they were perhaps a few hours away from the border with Uchiha land, but that wasn't going to be much of an improvement.

Madara had put a price on not only his head, but also Itachi's, and that of his cousins Shisui and Sai – setting even one foot in Uchiha territory was insanity. It was probably safer to stay in Senju territory; Sakura, however, was adamant that they head for the coast directly through the middle of Uchiha territory.

There had already been several close encounters with Hyuugas who would have liked nothing better than to skin them alive! He was certain that the Uchihas would be just as bad, if not worse, but Sakura was being completely bull headed. It wouldn't be so bad if they could move faster, but Sakura was _insisting_ on carrying a huge lump of rock on her back that didn't seem easy to carry.

Not by weight, just its shape. It seemed to sprawl across her back, and to change its shape every time she picked it up. It really didn't seem very rock-like, not for a rock. Sakura began growling and snarling when he or Itachi got within a certain distance of it too. It was _very_ suspicious.

Sasuke watch with a blankly hidden frown as Sakura heaved the thing onto her back once again as they emerged from their hiding places; it didn't even smell like a rock.

He'd get a hint of earth and leaves on occasion, and those weren't the primary scents usually associated with rocks, at least not when you considered the fact that it had emerged from Sakura's sealed hideaway in her cave.

_Will you stop worrying? It doesn't matter if it's a rock or a goat – it has to go with Sakura no matter how much you complain to yourself about it._

His head pricked up – ever since he had found out her name, the demon had been less forthcoming with the conversation than she normally had – the peace had been a bit unnerving actually. He was used to hearing her chatter in his ear every few hours or so since arriving in Sakura's valley.

"It's not a rock, and it's bugging me – if my thoughts bothers you so much, then stop nosing around in them" he muttered.

_And here I thought you missed my company._

Sasuke ignored her, and went back to pondering the rock that was not a rock.

* * *

Despite Sasuke's worries, they made it to the coastal side of Uchiha territory without attracting any attention.

They trudged up beside the angular rock beaches – ones constantly hounded by the notoriously horrific sea storms that made the weather in the Uchiha occupied lands so unpleasant. He and Itachi were utterly frozen by the cold spray of the sea as it crashed onto the sharps rocks and the pounding rain, but they seemed barley more than a minor irritation to Sakura.

Cold and wet as the weather was, Sasuke found his mind to be occupied by other things; as they trekked along the coastline, certain features in the landscape were blaring across his mind, his memories.

Very few Uchihas came to this part of the territory, so this was his first time seeing it, but he knew he had been here before. He could remember seeing these rocky outcrops and arches and pillars jutting from calm, brighter seas, and the shrubbery around them plastered with more vibrancy that the lashings of rain and salt water.

He could remember someone being there with him too – if he concentrated he could almost remember their presence in these memories, but the one thing he couldn't remember was what they looked like, or their voice or even if they were a man or a woman. He did remember though.

As they came around a corner on a long overgrown beach-side path, huge cliffs rose from the choppy seas several miles in the distance – even amongst the grizzly grey weather and iron coloured salty sprays, he could make out the black shadow of a cave mouth near the top of the cliffs, and the treacherous pathway that ran up to the forest that grew atop the cliffs themselves.

A cave; demons lived in caves, Naruto was demon, and liked caves, and had mentioned living on the coast. This had to be her cave! This was where he had met her before! She was the one he could almost see beside him sometimes.

That was why he remembered this place! That still didn't confirm the _how_ though – he had never been here before, he didn't know what Naruto looked like, so _how_ did he recognise all of this? He veered even as Sakura did around a corner instead of following the overgrown path straight on, surprising his brother.

"Why can't we just go straight ahead?" Itachi asked.  
"There's a huge gap in the cliffs that way, and bridge is rotted out; it's too wide even for a ninja to cross, so we have to go around it." Sasuke replied before Sakura could open her mouth.

The surprise on his brother's face was nothing compared to his _own_; how could he know that? It was clearer than day in his head, the image of a bridge rotted by hundreds of years of ignorance, and the gaping chasm leading to jaggy, water surrounded forks of rock hundreds of meters below.

Where the image came from, he had no idea.

Sasuke stared at the distant cave as they made their way around the gaping gap in the cliffs – the broken bridge could clearly be seen now, it's ancient wood planks hanging at either side of the cliffs, hanging by threads to rotten ropes that had been snapped by the weather many years before.

Everything about the area seemed to be old, the way Sakura's cave seemed to be, but much it was much more obvious.

The trees here were gnarled and twisted far beyond those in Sakura's valley, and they had to fight against the vegetation that had invaded the already unobtrusive path constantly as they made their way around the ravine.

It was as if the path itself had only ever been used by rare travellers long ago, and the old forest they wove through was halfway through the task of reclaiming it. It was so thick that he completely missed a tree root curving from the earth, and his foot was caught beneath it, sending him flying to the muddy ground.

As he hit the ground, a searing pain ripped through his chest, somewhere near his stomach, and a weary feeling of utter exhaustion only caused by serious injury wafted over him – he couldn't feel anything wrong when his hand went to keep his organs from spilling through his skin, not even a trickle of blood, and the feeling faded.

"Sasuke?"

He looked up to find Itachi hovering above him with concern written on his face, lit up beneath his rain-soaked hood by the light of a hissing torch. Beside him he could see Sakura's face, and it was full with a kind of hopeful anticipation. He paid neither expression much note, instead openly recoiling from the torch in his brother's hand, from the flames that hissed as the hail of water droplets struck them.

All of a sudden, Itachi didn't look like Itachi, and it wasn't an abandoned coastal forest path that he was standing on – the arms pulling him to his feet belonged to a pair of dark-haired men, and the tiny torch was a raging mass of flames in the centre of a dim, rain soaked courtyard.

The hiss and crackle of the flames seemed vicious as he was dragged past them, up a flight of stairs. He paid no heed to where he was being led; the figure in the centre of the dull, blue flames was of much more consequence – the agonized snarling and whelps and vulpine shrieks were more than enough to tell him the figure was not human.

He could see the thick ropes of chakra on the burning demon's ankles as something was slipped around his neck – he vaguely noted it was something thick, and uncomfortable. The figure roared something indecipherable at someone he couldn't see, but he recognised Madara's laughter as the flames billowed up towards the rainy skies.

There was another shriek in that vulpine language, and he roared something, then the ground fell away beneath him, and air vanished. He realised now that those steps had been leading to a set of gallows. The rope tightened, and he could feel it tearing at his skin, constricting his bones until-

Everything dimmed to black for what seemed like decade after decade, and he was back in the forest, under the rain with Itachi and Sakura; the spring demon had hoisted him to his feet and had her hands either side of his head, frantic eyed.

He spluttered as the feeling of strangulation disappeared from his neck, bending forward to inhale deep lungfuls of the cold, damp air. What on earth was that he had just seen? He was certain that the demon burning in that horrendous image had been Naruto. He knew her voice better than his own hand...

He turned to Sakura, searching for some sort of explanation, but the bitter disappointment on her face told him that she couldn't give him one – she seemed to be waiting for something from him, but was doing little to explain what it was.

_She can't tell you Sasuke – no-one can do anything to interfere or help you with this, despite how much easier it would be, that's why she doesn't tell you anything. If you don't remember by yourself, you won't remember at all._

By himself? That hardly seemed fair – how was he supposed to remember something that he couldn't even recall _doing_ before? It was impossible to be the same age twice, and from what he had just seen, he had been around the same age as he was now, perhaps a few years older.

None of it made sense, and so far very little of it seemed like something he would even _want_ to remember. Then he remembered that this was all linked in with Naruto – that it had been Naruto burning in that blue fire. The image was was... He'd never be able to forget it, and he didn't want to remember it.

He'd never seen Naruto's face, but even the faint shadowy image of her through those eerie blue flames was like a knife twisting inside his chest. Naruto had always been part of him, always with him even if she did not speak often – he couldn't fathom something like that happening to her.

What had she done to warrant something so horrible anyway? He knew some demons could be tricksters, or even vicious and evil, but those weren't common. The tricky ones usually just liked playing around, and the evil ones... well, most people dealt with them if they were found. Naruto was neither of those two – though she did seem to have a tricky, mischievous side.

What had she done? Why couldn't he _remember_ it?

* * *

There was a tense silence as they finally rounded onto the other side of the ravine, and started heading for the path that would lead them down the cliff face into the cave.

He could her the muffled whispers between Sakura and Itachi some distance behind him, and though he couldn't make them out, he knew that they were arguing about him. Itachi didn't like being kept in the dark, but Sakura seemed not to have uttered one word to him about whatever he was remembering (or how).

It probably didn't help that he was the one leading them through the bushy undergrowth now, but he couldn't help it – it was like his feet were simply following an autonomic path, something as natural as walking along the exterior walkway back at the family home in the Uchiha compound.

He felt like he had made this journey beyond dozens of times before. He knew where he was going, but it was completely unfamiliar territory.

The salt tang of the iron waves crashing into the chalky cliffs far below reached his mouth and nose as they finally broke out of the forest, and onto the path that led down the face of the chalky escarpment itself.

The path was treacherously narrow, and despite the sudden urgency for haste, he had no choice but to slow his feet and hug the side of the chalky face to keep from slipping onto the jagged rocks peeking from the raging waves below. Sakura was having a horrible time trying to keep herself steady as she carried the huge rock on her back, but she persisted despite Itachi's protests.

The wind and rain lashed against his skin, threatening to pull him from the narrow rocky path, and spray from the sea blasted him with and an icy chill; he had to use chakra in his hands and feet to keep himself glued to the path, and the two surges behind him betrayed a similar action from Itachi and Sakura.

After perhaps an hour of clinging to the rock, the cave was finally visible, and the path widened out enough to form a wide lip just outside the entrance. Again the familiarity was almost drowning – he could remember sitting there in calmer winds and sunnier days.

This time he remembered pulling a small dark-haired girl with pale eggshell eyes away from the edge, and heard something from his companion, before the girl ran past into the cave behind him. Then it disappeared from his grasp again, and he ground his teeth in frustration; why couldn't he keep hold of these memories?

As they descended the short distance down towards the lip, he made out a person standing in the centre, apparently waiting for them.

She wore a style of dress similar to Sakura's, but her grey sleeveless shirt was covered by a green jacket, and she wore dark trousers and sandals – it was a bit more up to date. As they drew closer he could make out the seemingly young face and blonde hair, and recognition was instantaneous.

"Tsu... nade?"

* * *

_**Nyeh heh heh. Sasuke's begining to see things! Or is he? I think most of you can guess where I'm heading with this story now. If you can't... Neyh heh heh... Patience is a virtue! Title is **_**'Missing' **_**by Evanescence**_

_**Hope you liked the chapter.**_  
_**Nat.**_  
_**xxx**_


	4. Memories

**E T E R N I T Y**

**

* * *

**

In a world of waring clans, Sasuke Uchiha searches for one thing, the identity of the demon who has watched over him since childhood. The sands of time have finally caught up with him, and a three hundred year old grudge will finally be fulfilled. SasuFemNaru. ItaSaku.

* * *

**C H A P T E R F O U R  
M E M O R I E S**

**

* * *

**

_**"De**__**ep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, doubting,  
dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before." ~ Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven.**_

_**

* * *

**_

Sasuke stared at the woman in front of him – he didn't remember meeting her, and she was completely unfamiliar, but her name burst from the tip of his tongue seemingly free of his own will. She raised an eyebrow beneath her hood but said nothing, and ushered them into the cave, away from the howling skies and sea.

He stared at the features of her face as he passed her, trying to find something that looked familiar. He didn't find anything other than the complex notion that he knew he had met this woman before, and he was hurried inside with Itachi. Sakura stood with Tsunade for a few moments talking in hushed demonic snarls. The woman's eyes widened at her words, before taking the huge lump of rock from Sakura, and ushering her inside behind Itachi.

Once they were all inside, she snapped her fingers and the cave mouth was swallowed by the encroaching chalk rock. As they entered deeper into the dimly lit cave, his eyes involuntarily searched the ceiling, looking for somewhere for the fire-smoke to escape – there was a small hole in the ceiling. Looking around again, he found more familiar things to greet his eyes.

The cave was much like Sakura's, but smoked fish hung from the rows in the ceiling beside the meats, and the fire was larger. The herbs and plants that poked from niches in the wall were greater in amount, and more varied in type. There were two other narrow openings leading to more caves further back into the chalky depths of the cliff.

He heard Itachi ask where to put their packs, but he was already moving towards one of the openings.

* * *

The narrow crack in the rock opened into a much smaller, rounded cave.

Long shelves had been been made by depressing into the white rock on one side, and the floor was covered in furs and blankets, somehow seeming much older than those back into Sakura's cave. But they looked messy, and several objects had fallen from the shelves – almost as if there had been a hasty departure, or a fight of some kind.

In smaller wall indentations, wicks rose from bowls filled with hardened wax and tallow – at one time, they had probably provided light for the room. The room was new to him, and everything was seemingly in it's right place, but the scent that lingered... There was no question that Naruto had once been the owner of this cave.

He let his packs slump to the floor absently as he made his way over the piles of skins and furs towards something that glinted on the shelves. It was a chakra blade – an old one. He stared at the small insignia carved into the metal of the handle, and felt something fizzle through his chakra. That just made him more confused – only chakra blades with specific owners did that, and they would only work for a recognised owner.

Tentatively, he tried pushing some chakra into it, and very nearly dropped it when he met with no resistance from it. He replaced it back on the shelf, and turned to glance around the room again as Tsunade came into the room, carrying the not-very-rock-like rock in her arms.

"I wondered if I'd find you in here – Itachi and Sakura have taken the cave to the left of this one" she informed him, placing the rock on the pile of furs with more care that should have been necessary.

She turned towards him with a curious expression, then took a few steps towards him, and gave him a thorough glance up and down, seeming to look for something, examining every inch of his skin.

One of her hands went to the side of his face, and he knew that a conversation was taking place, but he didn't hear it at all. He guessed that Tsunade had more skill at conversing without leaving any lingering feelings around what had been discussed than Sakura was.

"If you just relax and let things come to you, you'll find out what your missing" Tsunade said reassuringly, ruffling his hair.

"You sound very confident, but I don't even know where this is coming from – what makes you so certain?" he demanded, shrugging away from her hand.

She smirked.

" I _see_ things – I see people, animals, seasons... the future can never be decided with absolute certainty, but... if you know how to take gambles with what you do know, and what you see in signs, you can _manoeuvre_ things, try to... _encourage_ them as best you can. You can stay here tonight – if I'm right, you'll be on the page you need to be on the moment you wake up" she informed him, before heading out of the doorway.

He stood staring after her in perplexity for minuets before he heard Sakura calling him, mentioning food; he had barley noticed the raging hunger in his gut until the smell of fish, and some sort of vegetable dish permeated his nostrils, and was reluctantly required to leave the room.

* * *

Sleep was difficult to come by that night – he was constantly distracted by the smell of the room – it was exactly like those scents that Naruto had shown him on the way to Sakura's when he was twelve-years-old.

Even more distracting was the _so-called_ rock that Sakura had brought with them – it remained perfectly still, but there was something about it... he couldn't keep his eyes off it. Eventually sleep came though, but the endless world of white he found himself in was less than enthralling.

He just kept walking and walking, seemingly _endlessly_ in one direction. He couldn't turn away from that one direction, and it bored him; despite his boredom, he knew that he had to keep walking. If he kept walking, something far more interesting was bound to crop up.

He kept walking in a repetitive cycle of foot up and down, foot up and down, feeling like years were flying over his head, and still the vast white space continued.

He was on the verge of simply sitting down on the ground and giving the whole confusing expedition up as a bad job, when another set of footsteps joined his own. Just on the edge of his vision, there was a dim figure emerging from the vast white space. He quickened his pace, and was soon greeted with a face a couple of inches higher than his own.

The man was as pale as he was, and his eyes just as dark – his hair was longer, but it stuck up at the back in the same untameable mass of soft spikes – there was nothing wrong with him except for a horrid red-purple bruising around his neck, and the tear of damaged flesh on the same skin.

His clothing was an immediate indicator that he was not from recent times, and Sasuke wondered why his imagination seemed to make up more ancient people for him to talk to – Sakura and Naruto were bad enough. Well, he told himself it was his imagination, but he had seen this man before – he really _had_.

The man before him was his_ namesake_. The _first_ Sasuke Uchiha who had (by marriage to a Yamanaka) introduced the lightning element into the Uchiha clan, but had been killed for treason a few years later. There had been a picture of him in the clan meeting hall.

"So, you're Chidori's descendant? You look like me; bet that made my father nervous..." he stated, scanning him with his own set of dark eyes.

Sasuke froze as his ancestor examined him; how did he know Madara had been nervous around him? Enough to kill his parents, and pin the blame on him? This was all very baffling; it was not a normal thing to have dream conversations with ancestors who had been dead for three hundred years was it?

"Why are you inside my head? It's crowded enough in here already without someone else popping up..." Sasuke grumbled irritably.

"Don't you want to know what's going on with your memories? All these strange recognitions and familiarities that don't make sense?" the taller Sasuke asked.

Sasuke frowned; how did this dead guy know what was going on with his memories? Had he been living in here too? He'd never noticed him before if he had... And what was he doing in his head anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be _dead?_ Dead people weren't supposed to be in the heads of the living last time he checked...

"Not really – I'm long dead. We just have several things in common is all. Naruto being one of them" the old one replied, smirking in amusement a little as Sasuke's attention was ignited upon hearing Naruto's name.

He pulled out his sword – it was exactly the same as his own, just with less wear and tear on it – and handed it to him, handle first, and he somewhat awkwardly took hold of it. Why was the man giving him his sword? He already had it! He didn't need two of the same sword!

"You don't need to do anything but let yourself fall – everything will be clear the moment you wake up, as long as you just let the memories come to you" he informed the younger of the two almost-twins.

The man took hold of the blade and positioned it in the centre of his chest; Sasuke stared at him for several moments before nodding, gripping the hilt of the katana tightly, but with a shaking grip – he could see where this was going all too clearly, and he was not certain he was entirely comfortable with stabbing his ancestor.

What kind of weird, freaky, fucked up, dream _was_ this? He was supposed to be finding out why he kept remembering all these things he'd never felt or seen before. Stabbing an ancestor didn't really seem relevant to that cause... His ancestor seemed to think it would work, but the guy had been hanged! Sasuke wasn't all so certain about taking advice from a dead man...

Then again, he knew claimed to know Naruto, and he trusted her with his life...  
"It will work – I promise that. Just trust me."

Sasuke stared at the man in front of him, trying to find a lie on his face. It was incredibly similar to his own, even if there were differences; his jaw was a little brader, hair longer, his eyes a tad narrower, and he was at least two inches taller than him. He found no lie on his face though. It still seemed like a very bad thing to do – even if it was his own imagination supplying him with the dream.

Despite his reservations, he gripped the sword tightly in both hands and rammed the blade through the man standing in front of him. His ancestor smirked at him as his body dissolved into a red liquid, which seemed to turn to black just as quickly, sweeping across the floor.

As it inched towards him Sasuke resisted the screaming urge to back away from it; as it passed his feet, he felt the ground disappear from beneath him, and he prayed to god that his strange dreams would have something to show for his effort on waking as he fell into an unending world of black.

* * *

The memories passed in a blur, ranging from stumbling through the forest atop the chalk cliffs to short irritable conversations with Naruto.

He remembered feeling incredibly reluctant to the notion of leaving the cave, a sickly looking child, an irrational terror as he stared into the eyes of a serious-looking blonde man and a red-headed woman, and the irritation of being interrupted halfway into a kiss by fluttering Sakura petals.

That was when the good memories died; after that all he felt was the adrenaline crashing through his veins as they beat a hasty retreat from the cave, the pure unadulterated hatred as Madara closed up around them, and the horror of watching Naruto seemingly being burned alive.

Then the sight was gone, his feet fell from beneath him, and breathing became impossible; he felt the tearing of his skin as the noose tightened around his neck, the dim of awareness of a girl screaming his name (not Naruto, the voice was younger, child-like), the light-headedness that came as a precursor to-

* * *

Sasuke woke up with a start, staring at the ceiling of the cave in complete disbelief. He could remember everything – every little detail, including his own death. Sort of – it couldn't be his own death considering he was still alive – he just had the memories, and god, what memories they were.

How could he have forgotten everything? He was a different person, but he didn't think he was as completely different from his ancestor as he had the day before – he should have remember everything the moment he heard Naruto's voice! His fear of fire, the unexplained Mangekyo had all been rooted in her death! His subconscious had been screaming it at him all this time, but he had paid no heed to it!

He sat up, and stared at the rock – it wasn't a rock any more. For the first time, he laid eyes on the demon who had been in his thoughts (even if he did remember her, he had still never seen her before).

Her face was paler than the memories had led him to believe, and looked almost to weak to even be alive, but her feet still had the green tinge of grass stains on them, and he could smell the salty tang of the sea that lingered in her hair from where he sat.

There seemed to be no trace of any burning on her face, or arms, or any other visible part of her flesh, and her clothing was even more archaic than Sakura's – a short, leather strapless dress, tied with hand woven cord from the the slits on either side to just below her arms, and a utility belt with several more pouches than the one Sakura wore.

He scrambled to his knees, and peered over her, looking for some indication that she was going to wake up – he saw nothing. If it had been anyone but a demon, he would have believed them dead – he had been certain she had died, but clearly she had pulled a fast one on Madara.

Still, her skin was not the almost burning warm that he knew it should be, and there was not even a whisper of air form her – for normal people, that meant death, but Naruto was a demon. The only thing that could really repel a demon was religion; the only way to kill one, was to use a weapon or technique that had been blessed by priests, and Naruto had somehow survived that.

She had been speaking in his mind for the past eighteen years hadn't she? She must have survived! She was right there in front of him! In spite of the questions, he knew that he still needed to sleep, get a clearer grasp on his memories.

This in mind, he allowed himself to slump down next to her, and drifted back into the fitful dreams of sleep once again.

* * *

"Will it really work?" Sakura asked the blond woman who sat on the opposite side of the fire.

Tsunade glanced up at her curiously, then turned back to chopping up a variety of roots – Sakura kept her eyes on the process, but she didn't really concentrate. This sort of magic was beyond her level – she had barely turned five-hundred.

This sort of spell was really only for demons who had passed the five thousand mark. There wasn't even any guarantee it would work! Sasuke was remembering, but whether he regained those memories permanently or not was debatable. Even if he did, Naruto had been forced into hibernation. That could last for another hundred years, if not more!

There was no doubt that Naruto would have lost at least half of her power in those flames, and regaining _four-and-a half tails-worth_ of power was no mean feat – she needed every drop possible to keep herself alive right now, never mind _wake up._

She had been draining her energies by watching over Chidori's descendants within her hibernation. It was hard enough as she was still recovering from her injuries – never mind communicating with Sasuke. She hadn't even thought that possible, then again, she had been in two minds about this whole thing until she'd caught Sasuke's scent entering her valley six years ago.

"I don't know – I've never seen that far. Naruto liked to take gambles long before Madara started playing his mind games. Maybe once Sasuke starts remembering I'll be able to see something – I'll have an actual event to project from then..." her mentor replied.

She tipped the chopped roots into the small iron pot hanging above the fire – there was a hiss, and a puff of lurid yellow smoke, and a sulphurous smell of rotten eggs. Sakura felt bile rise in her throat as the stench invaded her nostrils – it was when she could smell things like this that she wished she could be a normal human with a normal nose.

She watched as Tsunade began rummaging through Naruto's shelves and niches before dragging out a terracotta jar sealed with lead. She frowned petulantly as Tsunade broke the seal and tipped the oily-purple-black leaves into the pot; her eyes immediately took on a glazed quality as she gazed in to the thin grey coils billowing from the contents. One that had nothing to do with the heat.

Sakura had never been very good with prediction arts; indeed, she'd only had one accurate prediction, and that had been a vision predicting the deaths of her two closest friends – one who had been with her since her childhood in the other realm, and the other still an incredibly recent addition.

She knew how to do it – it had to be channelled through her respective elements, and all demons knew at least the basics, but she had never delved into the art the same way as Tsunade had.

The woman was famous not only for her accuracy but her broad range – most demons could only use their abilities within their affinities. Sakura for instance, could only predict events that would affect her season through the earth and through water. Things like earthquakes and droughts were prime examples.

Tsunade, however, was even better than Naruto, and Naruto had somehow picked up four elements. She had no control of her elements outside of prediction, but within prediction, Tsunade had total control of all five, and it allowed her to predict almost anything from thoughts and actions to the turn of the tides.

The sound of footsteps behind her echoed through the cave, and she turned to find Itachi emerging from the gap in the rock leading to the cave they were staying in. The slightly stronger than usual frown on his face was an indication he was not in a genial mood, and Sakura felt another headache coming on.

She supposed she should be grateful he had lasted as long as he had before demanding an explanation – Sasuke had never really seemed anything much more than ordinary but for a few occasions until recently, so he'd never had reason to be suspicious.

The same could not be said of him now; oddly, he didn't look mad as he took a seat beside her, and she was grateful for it. Explaining everything was going to be difficult, even with Tsunade's help.

* * *

Itachi had always known there was something off about his brother, even when he had been a young child and Sasuke a mere toddler. He had worked hard, and had generally been a likeable boy, but he never seemed completely happy with life in the compound.

He had assumed that would go away with time, once ha had a chance to go on a few missions, but it didn't.

It was like his brother's fear of fire; he had always assumed it was just something that would pass as Sasuke grew up, and began to get better control over his chakra, but it had never faded. He used the techniques, often in fact, but each time he did he looked almost sick with fear.

There had been that uncanny resemblance to the first Sasuke Uchiha too, that resemblance to Madara. Everyone had commented on it at some point, and he remembered their ancestor's own interest in his brother at Sasuke's inauguration.

Something was just... not there. Sasuke seemed to know it too, and that made him all the more anxious when Sakura had hurried out of her cave with what turned out to Sasuke's scent on her nose eight years ago.

The revelation that his brother had been talking with a demon of his own for his entire life inside his head had been a very alarming revelation, but Sakura had assured him that the demon (whoever it was – he couldn't get a name from her at all) was trustworthy. She was someone who had been a mentor in her first two hundred years, a close friend, so he tried not to dwell on it.

This trek to the coast of Uchiha territory had been too much for him not to need some sort of explanation though; how could Sasuke know anything about this region? Neither of them had been here before, but once they started into the forest path that had led to the cliff, he had ploughed ahead, taking the lead from Sakura.

He had seen the confusion on Sasuke's face as they trekked down the cliff face to the small outcrop in front of the cave where Sakura's mentor stood waiting for them. He hadn't met her before, and didn't even know her name until it had emerged from Sasuke's lips.

He had looked in on his brother before after arriving; Sasuke had darted to a smaller cave at the back of the main one, and the foreign recognition, the familiarity on his face as he had scanned the room was plain. The room itself was odd enough. It looked like it had not been touched for hundreds of years; nothing was out of place, and it had been kept clean and dust free, but it was a frozen moment in time.

Eerily, Sasuke had fitted like a piece of a jigsaw into that room. Sakura looked up from the fire pit as he entered the main cave; the wind was still howling outside, and even through the thick cave walls, the chill seeping through the smoke hole. Sakura quickly made room for him beside the glowing fire.

He noticed the change immediately; it was like most of a heavy load had been lifted from her, and he knew that he was finally going to find out just what was happening to his little brother.

* * *

_**Update-no-jutsu! Took a while, but my world nearly ended when I thought my iPod broke, and then it wasn't so everything was right with the world again. At a friend's right now; first shot at cosplay. One of my new goals is to get some cosplay stuff of my own... Once I find a job. Hope you liked the chapter. **_

_**You can probably figure out what this story is about now, but keep an eye out for the next chapter all the same. Some flashbacks will begin!**_

_**Title is 'Memories' by Within Temptation.**_  
__

_**Hope you liked!**_  
_**Nat.**_  
_**xxx**_


	5. One Day

**E T E R N I T Y**

* * *

In a world of warring clans, Sasuke Uchiha searches for one thing, the identity of the demon who has watched over him since childhood; the sands of time have finally caught up with him, and a three hundred year old grudge will finally be fulfilled. SasuFemNaru. ItaSaku.

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE  
ONE DAY**

* * *

"_**Who ever loved that loved not at first  
sight?" ~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It.**_

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha was not in his best state of health as he trudged through the cliff-top forest on the western edge of the Uchiha lands. He had just come from the land owned by the Inuzuka clan, and it had not been a pleasant experience.

He had succeeded in retrieving the stolen sword that could be infused with chakra, but those rabid idiots had done a number on him in the process. They must breed like dogs as well as base their techniques on them, because there seemed to have been hundreds of them chasing him.

It was only after a two day chase that he managed to stumble away from them, and into the remote coast of Uchiha territory. Another two days, and he was finally his way through the ancient forest, but his strengths was lowly leaking from a series of claw gashes on his left abdomen.

Hikari, may the gods let her soul rest in peace, had taught him a few basic healing techniques when they had married, but he couldn't handle a wound like this, and he had no team with him.

He was going to kill his father for this; he knew that he was trying to get rid of him so he could spur Chidori into training... His daughter had the same illness and lightning element as her mother. He didn't want her to be integrated into the active ranks for fear it would accelerate the illness that had taken his wife from him four years ago.

His dear old dad was not very impressed with that frame of mind; Sasuke was certain his father was slowly going mad with the desire to take over the other clan territories, and Madara had been eyeing his daughter since she had first activated her crackling chakra.

The undergrowth was so thick here; it was a wild landscape, constantly hounded by storms with only a few calm days in the year, and had barley been plotted on the clan maps. The footpath was barley visible, swallowed by the ancient vegetation. The trees, the plants, they looked like they had been here untouched for years beyond count.

He couldn't seen the signs of any recent footsteps on the path, even from animals, because the vegetation that littered it was so thick. The path was almost completely blotted out. A tree root caught his ankle as he stumbled along, and he fell to the ground, his hand going to his side as the pain of the wound shattered what was left of his remaining resistance to impending death.

What was he thinking, taking on a mission like this? Just because he didn't want look weak in front of his bastard of a father? He should have turned it down the minuet it was offered to him! What was going to happen to Chidori now? He could feel his energy leaking from him, spilling from his side in red waves into the muddy, leafy surroundings. He dimly heard the crash of the waves and the roar of the wind as darkness encroached on his eyes.

At least it wasn't so miserable a place to die; this place felt alive, he knew that the forest was thick with life even if he hadn't seen any of the animal inhabitants. He had never been to the sea before, and the salty tang was something he would never forget in his remaining minuets. He just hoped Chidori would get a chance to experience it too.

He felt his eyelids grow heavy, and took a certain satisfaction in the fact that Madara would never get his hands on the katana he had been sent to retrieve. He was pretty certain Chidori would make it her mission in life to make her grandfather's an utter misery – she was perfectly aware of what a manipulative bastard he was.

He had taught her after all – he'd have to trust her to rid the clan from the curse that Madara had placed them under. It was probably a futile hope, but at least if he trusted her, he'd be able to move on without any regrets to his next life.

As he felt consciousness leave him, he could have sworn he heard the sound of feet crunching on the vegetation as they headed in his direction.

* * *

Sasuke didn't know what he had expected the world of death to be like, but he was fairly certain that it would not contain the sort of appetizing scents that woke him from unconsciousness.

He had never smelled spices like that before, and the intrigue roused him from his sleep to dark surroundings. He could hear the roar of the wind and the crash of the sea on the rocks. It was dark, but there was the faint orange glow of a fire from somewhere nearby, from where those smells came from.

It was with sudden realisation that Sasuke Uchiha realised that he had not been dragged down to the underworld as he had been expecting, but he was still alive. He was alive. He wasn't dead – the underworld hadn't claimed his soul just yet. He was alive... He didn't expect the quiet tears from his eyes with that knowledge, but they were an odd comfort; he was _alive_.

Chidori wasn't going to have to deal with his father by herself just yet. He was alive. Of course that knowledge begged the question of _how_ he was alive; he had taken some pretty serious injuries from the Inuzukas, and even the clan medics wouldn't have been able to heal them. He had known that even as he stumbled through the forest.

Where was he? Who had healed him? A thousand questions swirled around in his mind, and he had no answers for them. He didn't know what informed his rescuer to the fact that he had woken up, but even as those questions swirled in his mind, her face suddenly appeared over him.

She had soft features, and she looked to be in her late teens or early twenties – she didn't look much older than he was, but her eyes told a different story; decades of life echoed from them, but they were cold. They were as chilled as the rocks and wind of this rugged coast.

Her hair was blonde, and spilled down over her shoulders in golden waterfalls from two bunches either side of her head, but the glow of the candles turned it a burnt cadmium, a colour reflected in her eyes. It was a powerful image to wake up with, and he could help but wonder, looking into those dead eyes, if he was in the company of a human at all.

The thin lines on her cheeks, almost missed in the dim light, did nothing to rid her of the unearthly sense that suddenly swamped him. Her chakra felt so strange, so much more powerful than his own, it was so foreign that she couldn't possibly be human, despite her appearance.

She hovered over him, her hands buried either side of his head into whatever he was laid on, and she had her propped herself up on her knees either side of him; the closeness was enough to smother him in the notion that he was in the company of something far beyond humanity.

He couldn't drag his eyes from hers – they were so cold that they seemed to burn into him, occupying his mind completely. They were narrowed, examining his face with distaste, laying far too long on his eyes to escape his clouded notice.

They were so... powerful. He had never seen eyes like this before, even his Mangekyo seemed to dim in front of them, and he didn't even have it activated. They screamed with that inhuman power, seeming to bore down into the centre of his mind, searching for something...

"Tell me, what's an _Uchiha_ doing wandering so far from the rest of his abominable skulk?"

He had felt fear before, but that inhuman snarl in her voice (it was rich, and seemed to carry all of the emotion that had abandoned her eyes) was chilling right to the bone. She really was beyond human. If her voice hadn't been enough, her pupils had shattered the illusion of her human appearance by turning to a cat-like slit.

He was awestruck, terrified, and fascinated; what_ was _she? _Who_ was she? Instead of asking her the questions as he had intended, he found his mouth automatically replying to her question. He wanted to ask her so much, but it was like failure to answer her was... The more those eyes bored down into his, the more impossible it seemed to ignore her question.

"I was in... I was in Inuzuka territory – they were chasing me and one of them injured me. I don't know how I got here. I just stumbled onto the path on top of the cliffs..."

She looked very unsatisfied with that answer, but she didn't seem to find any doubt in his words – he didn't think he could have lied even if his life had depended on it. He could never have managed it. She didn't move despite his reply, continuing her examination with those penetratingly cold eyes.

"You _stink_... You smell like _Uchiha Madara_... You're covered in his disgusting scent – you're his _son,_ aren't you? You have the Mangekyo too – who did you kill for that? How did you find this place?"

She could tell all that just by his smell? This was so surreal – it was so far beyond anything he had imagined that he struggled to believe it was real. The only thing that kept him from thinking otherwise was the warm sensation of her breath on his cheeks.

He wondered how on earth she could know all that, how she knew his father, how she knew he had the Mangekyo Sharingan, but... He couldn't think of anything but answering her question. He guessed she was using some sort of technique on him through her eyes, but he really couldn't pull away from them.

"I am, but I didn't kill anyone for the Mangekyo like he did – my wife died four years ago... I don't know how I got here, I just stumbled onto the path when I was trying to get away from the Inuzukas" he replied.

Something in his words earned a faint, almost invisible rise of her eyebrows; something he said had surprised her, but what? She disappeared as quickly as she had arrived, her bare feet pattering away in the distance.

Finally free to look around, he found himself inside a cave. The light that told him so came from tallow candles in small wooden bowls, seated on self-like protrusions and hollows in the cave walls.

It seemed like just one room, because he could hear the... he could hear her moving about beyond his vision, and there was a gap that led onto more dimly lit walls. Moments later, she appeared there again, stepping through the crack with a wooden bowl in her hands. This place, this... woman... he felt like he was stuck in the past.

Now that he could see her properly, he could tell that her clothes were as archaic as his surroundings; she was wearing something made of a medium tan leather that looked like a dress, but had no sleeves or straps of any sort. It was held together on either side of her with lengths of hand-made cord that ended just above her thighs, letting the material dangle in front of her.

The prudish part of his mind decided that it looked obscene – no woman he knew would be caught dead in something like that. He pushed the thought aside when she placed the bowl down beside him and helped him into a sitting position. The scent of her skin left a salty tang on his lips – she smelled of the sea, of the forest he had stumbled into, and earth.

A glance at her bare feet showed the dark, greenish-brown stains that came from perpetually running barefoot. She propped something behind him – it felt like a fur of some kind, and handed him the bowl along with several torn chunks of bread. He stared at her warily for a moment before taking the food from her hands.

"Thank you" he informed her sincerely; he didn't know who she was, what she was, or why she seemed to dislike him so much, but she had saved his life.

_'Thanks'_ really didn't begin to cover the gratitude he felt. She sniffed, but she relaxed the permanent glare that seemed to be on her face by a fraction in response to the two short words. She watched him as he consumed the stewy-soup with cautious eyes, not seeming to miss a single blink or breath.

After he had finished, she sat on the other side of the room again after returning the bowl to wherever it had come from. The floor of the cave was covered in furs and skins, and he presumed it was supposed to serve as bedding – it was certainly comfortable compared to his own lumpy mattress back at the compound.

"What's your name Uchiha?" she asked.

"Sasuke..." he replied carefully – he didn't know what was going to set her off, and though she wasn't quite as hostile now, she certainly didn't seem very fond of him.

"Tell me about yourself Sasuke."

Err... What? Why did she want to know about him? She hated his guts right? It certainly seemed that way. What on earth was there about him that could be of interest to this inhuman being?

"Why?" he asked, trying to keep his voice full of confusion – he didn't want her to think he was being deliberately difficult.

"Because depending on what you tell me, you might yet still be set on course to the underworld."

* * *

She was very surprised to learn that his wife had been a Yamanaka, and that he already had a four year old daughter.

He couldn't really blame her for that – even his mother had been surprised when he had told his parents just who he wanted to marry. Unlike his father; he hadn't cared at all that his sixteen-year-old was in love with a member of another, usually antagonistic clan.

Hikari Yamanaka had been a year younger than himself when he met her in the middle of Senju territory. Her uncle was head of her clan, and despite the initial antagonistic meeting, he had grown rather attached to her after a freak rock slide had trapped them both in a cave.

They managed to blow themselves out a week later, but he had found himself rather reluctant to leave her company; she was a wild tempered girl who did nothing to hide her hatred of his family, or her opinions on his _'chicken arse hair'_.

He still didn't know how he had become so enthralled with her so quickly, but apparently the feelings were reciprocated, because the next time they met, a month later, she promptly informed him they were going to get married. Her family didn't like that at all, and most of his own had been very suspicious, but they were married all the same.

His father didn't show any interest at all until his wife had started regurgitating her breakfast each morning; he had naïvely thought he was simply beginning to accept her, if his father could accept anyone at all, which he doubted.

It had been a hard pregnancy on her because of her health, but she seemed very proud of herself when he was finally allowed into the medical room to see his wife and newborn daughter. That being said, he had been somewhat dumbfounded by the whole thing for several days.

It was routine practice to check the initial chakra of any newborn, and his family had gone absolutely fanatic when the chakra paper crumpled before burning. Chidori Uchiha was the first in the entire clan to wield the fire element and her second, the lightning element.

Double elements had been heard of in other clans, but never in the Uchiha clan; his family members warmed up to his wife a lot more after that. Everything had been pretty good, even if his father had been a bit of a git, until Hikari had started to have breathing problems a few months after Chidori's first year.

After that she stared coughing up blood, and could barley lift her arms to hold her own daughter. Her health had always been bad, but never this bad. The medics in the clan had been baffled, and had tried everything they knew to heal her.

They had even sent for a renown medic from one of the neutral clans, and he had had no success either. It had appeared from nowhere, without warning, and turned his life upside down. Then she had died; they had just been talking about the goings on outside of her sickroom, when she started vomiting blood, and had just died in his arms before the medics arrived.

There hadn't been a single thing he could do about it, and then his tears had ran red as his Mangekyo had awakened. He told the strange woman every single detail as closely as he could, completely forgetting about the death threat she had issued to him beforehand. It was a relief, in a way, to tell someone else about the whole thing.

His family didn't really care – all they seemed to care about was the double elements of his daughter and that he had gained the Mangekyo like his father. They seemed to forget of the emotion behind these so-called boons to their clan.

Especially his father. A soon as he found proof, he was going to gut his father like a pig for murdering his wife. Now that he'd been able to think it through, he was certain he had killed her.

That piece of information seemed to intrigue the strange female being more than anything else he said that night.

* * *

_**Chapter Five; the flashback arc starts, and we meet Past-Sasuke. Tee Hee. He's about 24 here... But you'll find out more about him next chapter! There willl also be a Lemon, but I can put a clean version up for those who don't want to read it. Lemme know if you want it kay :) **_

_**Present-Sasuke is 20 - I just wanted to clear that up (someone asked). I was very vauge with the passage of time, so it might not have shown. Itachi is twenty-five, and Sakura... well, she looks around the same age, but she's 500 XD **_

_**Tsunade is much older, but she doesn't like to reveal her age lol. Naruto finally makes her appearance too, though technically she has already made it... But this time she isnt in a coma-thingy, so this her real introduction. She's gonna drive Sasuke mad. Tee Hee. XD**_

_**Title comes from **_**'One Day'**_** by Trading Yesterday; Love that band like hell.**_

_**Well, hope you liked chapter five!**_  
_**Nat.**_  
_**xxx**_


	6. Fairytale: Lemon

**E T E R N I T Y**

* * *

In a world of waring clans, Sasuke Uchiha searches for one thing, the identity of the demon who has watched over him since childhood; the sands of time have finally caught up with him, and a three hundred year old grudge will finally be fulfilled. SasuFemNaru. ItaSaku.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX  
FAIRYTALE**

* * *

"_**Dreams are true while they last, and do we  
not live in dreams?"~ Lord Alfred Tennyson.**_

* * *

After he had finished telling her about Hikari, she stood up, told him to get some sleep, and left the room; she must have noticed he was getting tired before he did, because once he stopped talking, a huge weariness washed over him, and he quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, the rage of the wind had fallen from the air, and there was no lashing of rain in the air that he could hear the night before. The second thing he noticed was his injuries; they had healed by a considerable amount in only one night.

She appeared at the door with a blank expression on her face; the lack of hostility in it told him he had passed whatever test she had placed him under the night before though, and he didn't find being in her presence nearly so nerve-racking.

"It's about time you woke up – I thought you were going to sleep for the whole month; I suppose that was my fault for making the medicine so strong, but remedies were never my strongest point, so I wanted to be certain."

What?_ 'For the whole month' _did she say? That implied that he had been asleep for longer than a day! He couldn't have been asleep for that long...

"You've been out for about two weeks – your wounds have nearly healed, but I wouldn't recommend heading home just yet. There's still some infection to clear from them – those Inuzukas used poison on you."

That didn't really surprise him in the slightest, but two weeks? He hated to think what lies Madara was feeding his daughter after so much time had passed since his departure. The creature (he couldn't think of anything else to refer to her as) sat down beside him on the furs and handed him a wooden plate.

Fish, rice, and some sort of stewed vegetable adorned the plate; once again, there was a spicy scent that he had never come across back home, and he ate it ravenously. She watched him curiously as he ate, like she had never seen a person eat before, or not for a very long time.

Judging by the greeting he had been given, he'd guess she hadn't been in contact with anyone for years; she had been so hostile to a complete stranger! Why had she been so hostile? More to the point what was she other than something... beyond human?

"Who are you?" he asked, finishing the food.  
"Don't you mean _'what'_ am I?" she correct, a faint twitch of amusement on her lips.

Well, yes, he did, but he couldn't keep stumbling over what to refer to her as in his mind, and asking _what_ she was seemed a rude thing to ask considering she had saved his life. A name would do just as well.

"_Who_ are you?" he repeated.

She continued to stare at him in amusement, before leaning back against the wall with a faint smile on her lips; he couldn't help thinking she looked better even with a smile even as small as that on her face instead of a frown.

"My name would be utterly meaningless to you – for one thing, you wouldn't be able to understand me even if I did tell you what it is."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, frowning in confusion.

He didn't know what happened next – he couldn't concentrate on anything other than the horrible burning wail that threatened to burst his eardrums. The noise was horrible – it shrieked through his ears into his brain with a blistering agony that left him trembling even when the sound was gone. It was not disorientation... that noise felt like it could have killed him.

"Wh-What...?"

He couldn't get the question out, but thankfully the woman seemed to know what he was truing to ask.  
"My _name_ – I told you it would be useless to you. Typical human, typical _Uchiha_ – you never listen to decent advice when it's given to you."

_That_ was her name? What kind of language _was_ that? Any doubt in his mind that she could be human had been completely erased thanks to that little display. That noise wasn't something that could be made by a human! He doubted even animals could make a noise like that.

"I need to call you _something_" he persisted.

She rolled her eyes at the stubbornness; yes, it would be easier to ask_ 'what'_, not _'who', _but that would be like... That was like asking what a chair was in a way. It was for things below being human, and she was distinctly _above_ human.

"The closest word to my name in your language is... I guess it would be_ 'Maelstrom'_. The distinction isn't very clear, but it's as close as you humans get to it. Does that satisfy you?"

Naruto. Maelstrom. Yes, in an odd way it did. It didn't irritate her, or she wouldn't have told him. It suited her as well. She wasn't something that could be tamed, from what he had seen of her at any rate, and their encounter had been nothing short of stormy. He liked it. He nodded.

"What the heck are you then, Naruto?"

She stared at him in incredulity, and muttered something to herself very quietly. He suspected she had been talking to herself in that foul noise of a language she had revealed her name to him in earlier, and despite not hearing a word of it (thank the gods) he knew it was something like ' _damn Uchihas'_ or _'bloody humans'._

Eventually she turned back to him, set her icy turquoise gaze on him, and replied with a somewhat proud smugness. She crawled over to him, smirk widening as he tensed up at the close proximity. He could feel her breath on his face feel that huge presence of power beyond human comprehension over him again.

"You really want to know what I am?" she asked, her voice taking a toying, almost hypnotic lilt.

Being slightly more awake this time, he felt his face heat up at the position she had placed herself in – this really wasn't something any woman with a sense of propriety would even think of. His wife had acted as such, but behind firmly locked doors, and only after they had been married, thank you very much.

This was a very nerve-racking situation, and he began wishing she would give him his shirt back, but he still managed to nod in reply to her question. She leaned closer to him, her lips hovering beside his ear, and her body pressing against his own as she leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"I am what you humans would call... a _demon_."

Sasuke didn't believe her at first, and then he saw the flicker of her shadow on the wall behind her; at first it looked normal, but when he looked closely it was certainly not so.

Instead of the shadow of a human woman, a nine-tailed vulpine silhouette snarled back at him.

* * *

Naruto began to become less and less icy towards him after a few days of solid company, and after anther full two weeks, he actually began to enjoy the time he spent with her.

In some ways, she reminded him of his wife – they both had the same wild quality, and even had similar looks, but that was probably where the similarities ended. For one thing Naruto wasn't even human.

She loved fish – something he accredited to living near the sea – and miso ramen, but she also seemed to have a horrible weakness for deep-fried tofu. He also learned thanks to one embarrassing incident that she did not believe in wearing undergarments (he would leave those thoughts there for his own safety).

He didn't know how old she was, but she had mumbled something about the Rikkudo Sennin – his ultimate ancestor and the founder of all ninja techniques. She didn't seem very fond of him, and referred to him as a _'boring old crab'_, but the fact that she knew him put her at the very least over five hundred years old.

He tried not to dwell on_ that _mind boggling thought either.

The cave he had been recuperating in was in the face of a chalk cliff, and there was a small outcrop with a path leading up the face to the cliff tops just outside the entrance. Now that the weather had settled, and he had caught a glimpse of the area he was in, he found it to be quite amazing.

He hadn't seen the sea before the night he had collapsed in the forest atop the cliffs around Naruto's cave, and he was fascinated by it.

How could something so calm now have been so wild, so violent only a few weeks ago? It made the name Naruto had let him call her by all the more fitting; it was why she lived by the sea. They had the same untamable, wild personality and the same beauty when they calmed.

That last thought niggled at him a little bit, but there was no denying that Naruto, or at least her human skin, was very appealing to the eye. Her hair was bright, far brighter than even his wife's had been, and her eyes were exactly like the sea; they ranged from a bright lapis blue, to a steely, iron blue-grey depending on her mood.

Her skin was rich from the sun that bathed the area, and – he knew from their first close encounter – smoother than he would have thought for someone who lived such a rough lifestyle.

She seemed to find him rather interesting too; it cemented his belief that she had not been in contact with humans for a long time. He didn't know what her animosity towards his clan was, but he had his suspicions that it somehow involved his father, and very prudently did not ask.

It was strange how attached he had become in two short weeks of interaction with her; she was an easy person to get along with, and kept him on his toes. He couldn't think what she was going to do from one moment to the next.

She was utterly surreal, having created her own world by the ocean that he had somehow stumbled across, completely free of any restriction from anyone but herself. The hypnosis she held over him wasn't limited to her eyes, it was everything.

He didn't understand it since half the time she set his teeth on edge – she seemed to enjoy annoying him, causing his temper to surface, howling with laughter when he tried to yell at her.

He never succeeded, and he found it hard to ignore her.

* * *

It was halfway into his second week when she decided he was fit enough to brave the path down to the beach (he wasn't quite capable of diving from the overhang like she could yet). Sand, he decided after a few hours of experience the feel of it for the first time, was both fascinating and horrendously irritating.

Naruto laughed at him again, before diving back somewhere beneath the waves – he was surprised she wasn't a fish instead of a demon with how much enjoyment she got from it. She emerged from them, head bobbing like a seal from the water, grinning widely.

"Stop acting like grump and swim Sasuke – you do know how to swim right?" she teased.

He did know how to swim, it was his first experience with sand and salt water, but he had crossed plenty of lakes and rivers. He was still somewhat reserved about following her though – he didn't want to open his wounds when they were nearly healed.

But then again Naruto wouldn't suggest it if she thought it was going to have unwanted repercussions would she? He'd just have to be cautious. The water wasn't as cold as he had expected, but it was still cold and somewhat choppy thanks to a brisk wind.

He shivered involuntarily as he swam out to the rocks she was hunting around – she had a habit of going looking for fish when she was peckish, and he had a sneaking suspicion that she didn't bother to cook them sometimes. Thankfully, he had never seen such a thing.

She was hacking at one of the crustaceans on the rocks with a pebble retrieved from the sea floor when he approached her, bashing at the hard white shell in an attempt to pry it from the rock. He briefly wondered how on earth she was going to eat it, and then watched as it finally popped from the rock into her hand.

She pulled out the unappetizing looking inside of the shell with her nails – which had suddenly grown pointed – and popped it in her mouth.

"What the heck is that?" he asked.  
"It's a limpet – haven't you seen a limpet before?" she replied around the chewy mouthful.  
"Of course not – I haven't been to the sea before. None of the Uchiha have..." he replied, hesitantly drawing closer to her.

Sasuke would freely admit that his rescuer was a fine example of female flesh, as far as her human looks went, but that had been on land. Down in the water... that was even water dipped over her skin, glistening sharply in the sun, drawing his eyes to her neck, her lips and...

And then he promptly turned in the water and removed his gaze from her.

Dear god, she just had to swim naked didn't she? Damn it, the stupid demon had no sense of _propriety!_ Now he _really_ couldn't look at her! There were _rules_ about that sort of thing! There was a time and place for nakedness, and this was not one of them! God, even that meager bit of leather she wore was better than this!

"Sasuke, what's wrong with you? Your wounds didn't open did they?" she asked.

There was a splash in the water as she swum towards him; she came round to the front of him, and he promptly screwed his eyes closed. Stupid, idiot, demon! Why couldn't she wear some _clothes?_

"Sasuke? Are you okay? Did you seriously open your stitches?" she asked, alarmed by his screwed expression.

He felt her hands grasping his side under the water, checking them herself for a brief moment, and then he immediately backed away from her in an odd sort of fear.

"Okay, I give up – what on earth is _wrong_ with you?" she asked – he felt his back hit one of the coarse rocks, and heard the splash in the water as she followed him.

"Nothing's wrong with me! It's _you!_ Put some damn _clothes_ on!" her replied, feeling oddly frantic.

His eyes were still closed, but he could feel that close sense of power again, and he knew she was right in front of him. Naked. Damn it, why wasn't that piece of information staying caged up? He didn't want to think about that!

"That's _it? _That's what's got you acting so strange?"

She burst into laughter, loud peals of unrestrained laughter, and against the advice of his common sense of decency, one eye cracked open; she was splayed back in the water as if she had been rolling on the floor, arms holding her sides and legs splashing in the waves from pure mirth.

His eyes strayed towards the glisten of the salty water on her skin, the dry damp texture of her hair – free from its usual ties, and the bright fan as the ends met the water around her shoulders, then he promptly screwed the shut again. That was not something he should be watching! It was _indecent!_

The laughter drained away, and he felt her draw closer through the water more that he heard the splashes as she pulled herself through the water. He kept his eyes firmly shut as her arms reached up to grab onto the rock he had somehow become caged against

"What is it that bothers you so much about what I wear or don't wear?" she asked bluntly.  
"It just isn't _done_ okay? I don't know what kind of time your head is in, but in mine, humans don't... I... It just _isn't_ okay?"

He heard a sigh of frustration.  
"I still don't get it! I look great! That why I _picked_ this body! What's wrong with showing it off...?"

He could have sworn he heard her add _'I don't get to do that very often!'_, but he decided to ignore what was probably a figment of his horribly sex depraved imagination – four years of celibacy was _not_ helping at the moment.

"Look, if you were one of the women from back home, and someone saw... this, then I'd be thrown out! It just doesn't happen – especially not to single people!" he explained, or tried to; he felt her eyes staring at him, probably in blank incomprehension, before she groaned in frustration again.

"By the gods, what kind of century _is_ this? If this is what _straight guys_ are like I feel sorry for Gaara! There must be about two gay guys every twenty years right now! He must be completely celibate!"

"What?"

What the heck was _that_ supposed to mean? There was another stunned silence, and he could have sworn he heard Naruto make a choking noise.

"I am seriously going to pretend you did _not_ say that... Oh gods, I can't _believe_ this! This century is so boring! I hate it! I _knew_ I should have gone into hibernation last century! I _knew_ it! This completely_ sucks!_"

He wished she would stop casually throwing the word _'century' _around like that. It was very unnerving. She stopped raging after a few moments, and he heard her swim back through the water and latch her arms onto the rock behind him again – damn, he should have escaped then.

He felt her cold body close in against his own, not touching, but certainly close enough to cause him some unease. The image of her skin glistening in the water popped in to his mind again, and tried to force it back into the indecent corner of his mind where his sex drive lived - he failed.

He felt her breath on his face again – it was warm despite the water, and the feel of it on his cold skin was like electric. He felt her body press against his own, and clung to the rock for support as she wound her wet arms around his neck.

"What is it going to take for you to relax the stupid prudish shell Sasuke? It's _really_ beginning to annoy me..."

This...! He couldn't think any more; she was pressed right up against him, trapping him against the rock, her small but firm, plump breasts pressed against his chest, one leg slipped between his own and pressing against his groin.

Think of something else, think of Madara, Chidori, Madara, Madara and his mother, something, anything... he felt the press of damp salty lips against his own, and felt his still struggling resistance to her slipping away as his arms left the rock to slither round her.

He began to press his lips against hers with a little more vigor, his hands running over the bare skin of her back under the water, one climbing towards the back of her neck, tangling in her bright hair, the other encroaching round to her butto-

He jerked away from her with a howl of dismay at his own actions, swiftly heading for the safety of the shore to the accompaniment of Naruto gales of laughter.

* * *

"What's your daughter like? You haven't told me about her" she asked.

They were sitting on the outcrop beyond the entrance to her cave, and Naruto was gutting some of the fish she had caught – when he said caught, he did not mean with hooks or a net. Naruto had simply pulled off her already meagre clothing and dived off the outcrop into the water.

As far as he could tell, she had caught the fish with her own jaws if the sharp bite marks were anything to go by on her return – not that he'd looked at them until she'd pulled her clothes back on. She had absolutely no sense of propriety or modesty. She even laughed at him while she pulled them back on for being so prudish (her opinion).

"She's eight, quiet for the most part, Hikari died when she was four, and she doesn't like mushrooms. She's got black hair, and looks like me, but her eyes are pale blue. She tries to look like Hikari, so she puts her hair into a ponytail... she's not very strong health-wise though..."

His thoughts grew a bit distant when he had finished talking about her; he had been here a month now (counting his two week sleep) and Madara would probably have declared him killed on duty by now. His mother would probably have taken her in and tried to keep her out of his father's eyes but...

He didn't know what that man would have done to her, what he would have told her to get her to start taking missions. Chidori knew what kind of man he was, and she was a smart girl, but she was still a child. Madara was... He didn't know how old his father was, but he was at least a hundred years old, even if he looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

"I wouldn't worry too much – if he considers her as valuable as you say, he's not going to risk her health for the sake of a few missions. He's an unpleasant man, but you can count on him to work to his own advantage."

He looked up from the fish in his hands to the demon seated beside him, eyes wide in surprise; how had she known...? It hadn't showed that much on his face. Force of habit form keeping his thoughts to himself around his father was that his emotions didn't really show on his face...

"Sasuke, its common sense to be worried about her with that man hanging around – and in any case, do you really think you can keep the emotion from my notice? I think you forget just how old I am sometimes..." she replied, a teasing tone seeping into the end of her words.

He snorted.

"For someone so _old_, I'd have though you'd have picked up a few things on propriety – you do realise that if you walked into any clan dressed like that people would be absolutely scandalized?"

She shook her bunches back over her shoulders with a smug expression.

"Shut up you prude – I've seen you looking when you think I can't see you. You tell me to put on some clothes, but you certainly enjoy the _'scenery'_ around here, even when it's pissing it down" she informed him, tapping one pointed finger against his chest with a smirk.

"And that's _my_ fault? You're the one walking around half naked..." he muttered, his attention going back to the fish.

He hadn't really meant to stare, but how could he avoid it? She wouldn't put on some decent clothes, and he could hardly ignore her when the lived in the same cave. The cave was quite large as far as caves went, but it was still a cave. It was impossible to ignore her.

It didn't really help that he had abstained from the company of most women with the exception of his mother and daughter since the death of his wife. He almost asked if she could blame him for being human, then remembered she was not human, and thought better of it.

Still, he wasn't entirely at ease with the knowledge that not only had he been taking a few sneak glances at her human body, but that she knew about it. He didn't know how he was supposed to react to that – should he be embarrassed? He certainly felt embarrassed.

"I'm sorry that my dressing habits offend you, but I still think you're a prude" she snickered.

An irrational surge of irritation snapped through him and he set a glare on her – he was happy to see that his sudden his irritation had caught her by surprise.

"You keep calling me a prude, but I _was_ married, even if it wasn't for very long. I am _not_ a prude. I just don't think parading around without any underwear is altogether decent," he snapped.

She stared at him for a few moments in stunned amazement.

He hadn't exactly raised his voice, but it was the first time he had been visibly irritated by something she had said in an attempt to bait him. The stun turned in to confidence, and she then she spoke the two words that – had he been given the benefit of hindsight – started the spiral that would eventually lead to both their deaths.

"Prove it."

He didn't think about it – he honestly didn't think about it. He was a proud man, and he had never held up a white flag in the face of a challenge before. He did realise that this wasn't really that kind of challenge, but that was probably where his forthcoming actions stemmed from.

He clasped one hand round her wrist, the other on her chin and pulled her towards him, pressing his lips against her own with a degree fierceness that he hadn't expected. He dragged his tongue over bottom lip, his hands falling to run down her sides, caressing the skin between the two pieces of soft, leathery material that served as an attempt as modesty.

Her lips parted in surprising earnest, and he was surprised by just how quick his tongue invaded her mouth; he felt the sharp point of her teeth as her own tongue brushed against his own, another reminder of her inhuman nature, and an unwholesome excitement ran through him with it.

He dragged his hands further down till they landed on the ties that kept the two pieces of material together, and tugged them apart as Naruto's fingers pulled his lips towards her own, pressing into the roots of his dark hair and on the back of his neck.

His hands made short work of the ties as his lips trailed from her mouth down her neck, and to the hollow of her throat, tugging aside the leather and tracing his fingers over her bare skin. He had meant to stop after kissing her but... he couldn't.

It was like he had been looking into those hypnotic, slitted eyes. He couldn't do it. He wanted to keep going, and it had nothing to do with four years of abstinence. He wanted her, and he had no idea where that want had come from.

She tore his shirt off his body, and he had another reminder of her inhumanity to add to his list – she was _much _stronger than she looked. The scent of her skin invaded his senses as his lips continued down, lower, before taking one pert nipple between them.

Salt, dirt, wind, the sea, the wind, the earth, it was the smell of life, of freedom from anything. Sasuke had always craved freedom from his clan. It was intoxicating. The moans escaping her lips didn't help – they were feral, animal, and untameable.

His hands continued lower down he sides, her skin, one pulling her upper body up towards his lips as the other trailed lower, between her thighs, and his fingers invaded her moist centre. After a short moment, he found her sweet spot, and attacked it.

She arched, releasing a real snarling, howl of pleasure as his lips left her breast returning to her lips. He brushed it with his fingers again, and relished as her moan was swallowed by his lips, as her tongue grazed harshly against his own.

He couldn't stand it any more. He needed to be inside her; he rapidly pushed his trousers and underwear down, and skimmed his hands down her sides, grasping her buttocks and pulling her towards him as he slammed into her.

She gasped, she snarled, she moaned as he thrust inside her over and over, aiming deeper and deeper each time, before finally drawing her first and only scream as he released inside her.

Then, surprisingly quickly, it was all over; he rolled onto the ground beside Naruto, mimicking her stare at the searing blue sky above him as he tried to come up with an answer for the question on both their lips; _'what just happened here?'_

* * *

**Meh. Not my best lemon in my opion, but hopefully you liked it. I was going for Victorian prudishness in the extreme regarding Sasuke, and that this part of the story is set 300 years or so before the main part. Naruto of course, is horrified and wishes she'd stayed asleep for another hundred years. Tee Hee.**

**Time passes very quickly in this chapter, simply because I didn't want to spend too long on this part of the story and drag it out too much. It'll be a while before I update again; I've not got any more chapters completed, and this story doesn't get as much attention as my others becuase it's harder to write for some reason... I dont know why. Just is.**

**Title is ****'Fairytale' **_**by Alexander Rybak.**_

**Hope you liked the chapter. :D**  
**Nat**  
**xxx**


	7. Heart On My Sleeve

**ETERNITY**

* * *

In a world of warring clans, Sasuke Uchiha searches for one thing, the identity of the demon who has watched over him since childhood. The sands of time have finally caught up with him, and a three hundred year old grudge will finally be fulfilled. SasuFemNaru. ItaSaku.

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN  
HEART ON MY SLEEVE**

* * *

"_**Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth  
until the hour of separation" ~ Kahlil Gibran.**_

* * *

Things changed after that afternoon on the outcrop; he had no idea why he had just lost control of himself like that, and Naruto seemed confused about why he had too.

Here he had been complaining about her lack of decency for the past two weeks, but he had completely and utterly failed to practice what he preached that afternoon. It did not sit well with him.

He was forced to re-evaluate his relationship with the demon, and he didn't want to do that. He knew it had changed somewhere in those two weeks, but when and to what he didn't want to think about. If he did, he knew that things were going to complicate themselves.

It had been easy to think of Naruto as the _demon-in-the-wilderness_ who had simply helped him out of a very tight pinch, but not any more. It was impossible to look at her in the same way again after that.

Despite his attempts otherwise, he couldn't help the subconscious wandering of his eyes now, and he didn't really care if she noticed or not. He couldn't get it out of his mind; their little tussle had been short, but it he was fairly certain it was one of the most... passionate things he had experienced in in his twenty four years of life.

It didn't have anything to do with the sex – that was what made him so reluctant to re-evaluate his thoughts concerning Naruto. He would freely admit that she was no longer someone who had helped him any more, but thinking on what those feelings had changed into was... another matter.

Naruto, for her part, had seemed completely unruffled at first; he had been a little insulted by the notion that she didn't care about the whole thing one way or another, until he realised she was spending more time on her fishing than she usually did. She'd disappear over the overhang in the middle of the afternoon sometimes. She had never done that before.

After a few days of avoiding each other, his patience snapped; they were sitting at opposite sides of the fire, and he was sick of staring out of the cave mouth instead of being able to hold a conversation with her like he usually did.

"Do I repulse you or something?" he asked bluntly; Naruto stopped the ravenous chewing of her grilled mackerel, and turned her eyes towards him the fish still held up to her mouth (he had asked if she had chopsticks once, and her expression of puzzlement had answered his question).

"What?" she asked, after swallowing the mouthful of fish she had been chewing.; there were traces of the met and juices around her moth – it made him wonder how he had ever grown to be attracted to her at all.

"You are avoiding me. Is it because I'm human or something? Is that why you can't look me in the eye any more?" he asked, a trace of irritation coming into his voice at the thought; Naruto stared at him for a few moments, before her eyes lit up in comprehension, and she frowned.

"That has nothing to do with it! I just didn't expect you to be up for... that..." she muttered in a snappy tone, though she lost her sharpness towards the end of the sentence.

Normally he'd tease her; he'd say it was a little late to be embarrassed about sex, but not now.

"Then why won't you look me in the eye any more?" he retorted.

Naruto flinched at the accusatory tone, here eyes flicking away from him as she bit her lip; the glow of the fire cast her shadow on the wall behind her, and the tails on her vulpine form were twitching in anxiety, her ears much the same. She took another bite of her fish, and her contemplative expression was clear as day despite the darkness outside.

"Sasuke, do you know why there is no demon watching over the Uchiha clan like the others?" she asked after a few moments of seemingly deep thought.

He hadn't even known abut it until she mentioned it, but when she did, he did wonder; if the other clans had a demon around to watch over them, why didn't his? They had a small shrine, and the priests were always putting up offerings, but not to any particular guardian the way the Yamanakas, Huugas, Naras and Akimichis did.

Now that she was mentioning it though, several oddities in her behaviour began to make sense; her open hostility towards him when he had first arrived, and dislike of his family for one thing.

"Us demons, we aren't here just to have fun. The boss man sent us here to watch over different families, clans. There's a certain amount of trust involved in the relationship though. The last time I even saw an Uchiha was over a hundred years ago..." she stated.

That was his father that she was talking about. He had never asked about whatever had made her hate his father so much – he didn't really think it was important. He wasn't fond of his father either, so it didn't really matter. Now however, he found himself burning with curiosity.

"What happened?"

Naruto closed her eyes and concentrated, before the words floated to her lips as she found the memories she was looking for.

"At first, your father was a normal Uchiha. Private, quick minded, a little more determined than most but... otherwise he was normal. I was given the job of watching the Uchiha clan, helping them grow, and so I revealed myself to him when he became clan leader..." she replied, opening her eyes and staring out at the dark sea.

Her eyes were reflecting it, their bright blue taking on a steely iron tinge, and the scent of rain on the wind told him just why the coast was so inhospitable. His attention remained on what was being spoken though.

"...It was still a small clan then, perhaps thirty or forty members, and the Senju clan was threatening them too much for my comfort. Madara was desperate, he _begged_ me to intervene, to help them... Of course, I complied - that was my job, personal attachments aside, and it worked... but..."

But his father had turned into the power hungry monster that he was now. Naruto seemed reluctant to do into grater detail, though he knew it was there, but he didn't think he needed to know the rest. For one thing, he was having trouble processing the knowledge that she had been... _involved_ with his father-

"Not him. Izuna..."

-make that his uncle. He didn't know much about his long dead uncle, except that he was dead, and had died on the battlefront. His father was supposedly very close to him, but Sasuke could contest that notion. Then again, his uncle had died a hundred years before he was even born... A lot could happen in a hundred years and if Naruto was any indication, it obviously had.

"I wouldn't know about him..." he replied, not sure of what to say.  
"You would have liked him. A cool head, polite, had a certain affinity for getting himself into trouble. No one ever knew of course but... He was nothing like you at all..." she replied, watching the churning clouds encroaching over the sea; a distant rumble told him there was lightning in them.

It was easy to realise that half her reason for avoiding the Uchiha clan was rooted in the death of his uncle, but he'd learned enough for one night. For one thing, he'd learned that Naruto was the mysterious source of his clan's bloodline. Adding up the dates in clan history, the Sharingan had appeared in their blood just before an attack from the Senjus that could have wiped the clan out.

It was a little overwhelming to learn all this at once, so he didn't press the issue itself. He could imagine several reasons for her hatred of Uchihas with this information for now - the exact details could come at a later date.

"...well, I say that, but you do have certain similarities, and that confuses me. I can't afford that when there are aspects of being a demon you don't understand, that you aren't _ready_ to understand."

Sasuke furrowed his brows at her words.

"You keep treating me like I'm a child, but I'm twenty years old. I think I'm old enough to-"

"And I was a barely an adult when the _Rikkudo Sennin_ was _born_; to me you are, and the very young do not always listen to what they are told..." Naruto snapped, the first crash of thunder echoing outside with a flash of lightning.

Sasuke fell silent at that - looking at things from her perspective, he was a child. He always forgot how old she really was. She never looked old, she even looked younger than he was in certain lights, but she was easily older than his father.

His father had extended his life yes, but to her extent? He didn't have a chance of it. Sasuke did not like all these unknowns, but she had never been so overtly secretive before so... maybe she had good reasons to be keeping quiet.

He didn't know much about demons to begin with - they were a forbidden subject to most Uchihas, and he only knew what he did because his father had warned him about them when he was young. To be perfectly honest with himself, he knew very little about his host.

"What's it like? Being a demon?" he asked after a long silence.

Naruto glanced back towards him and raised an eyebrow.  
"You're doing _that_, right? How?" he asked, gesturing to the raging storm outside.

Naruto blinked in surprise, then smiled and began explaining how demons were tied into the elements and seasons, and other simple demonic abilities.

* * *

After that talk, the tension was gone, and Sasuke found himself more relived than he originally anticipated.

Naruto wasn't like the medics in the Uchiha clan, who were very fond of bed rest for their patients; Naruto was very insistent that he earn his keep as soon as he was capable – which was once the wound itself started healing around his stitches (he didn't want to know where she had learned to sew skin together – the medics would have fainted dead away back at the compound).

Once certain he was up to activity more strenuous than swimming (or sex for that matter) she roped him into helping her stock up on meat for the winter; a part of his mind told him that the stitches could probably be removed now, and he was fit to go home, but he was reluctant to voice the issue, believing Naruto was more trustworthy on the matter.

Her range of meats extended from the rabbits and hares inhabiting the flat plains on top of the cliffs, to the fish in the sea and the puffins nesting in the cliffs themselves. She used slingshots to catch those, and though Sasuke had never used one before, he was quickly seeing the advantages of the weapon.

If a well thrown pebble could kill a puffin, then what about well aimed shuriken or makibishi?

He was too preoccupied with catching the damn birds to find out though; they were bad fliers, but his aim with the slingshot was not good, and his attempts to catch the aerodynamically challenged sea birds drew many laughs from his demon rescuer. God forbid he should try to catch a hare.

Aside from the meat and fish, she stocked up on woof, and various plants – some he recognised as the vegetables she had made with the meat, or had kept in jars as dried snacks, but many of them looked medicinal. One of them in particular she had been openly giddy about finding, but had told him to stay away from.

It hadn't looked like a friendly plant, and the smell made him light-headed so he took her advice and stayed a good distance from the purple-black, oily looking weed. He learned quite a lot from her in the next few weeks, concerning how to live off the land at any rate. He usually took ration bars with him on missions so he only knew the basics.

They never had sex again, but aside from the quiet acknowledgement that there was something more significant between them (and a couple of close, heated exchanges with their lips), they never spoke of their exact relationship.

Even when her parents showed up, and the rather intimidating figure of her father cornered him for an exact explanation of it, he still couldn't give him one. The man seemed satisfied by something, because he lightened up after the failed interrogation, but Sasuke didn't know what had mollified him.

Naruto had an equally confused air about her, a prime indicator that they needed to talk, but neither of them were willing to push aside their pride first. Perhaps they should have, because the end of his time with Naruto crept up behind him far too quickly.

He had been there another two weeks, and they were atop the cliffs looking for wild fowl. After two hours of careful searching he had finally found a small group of pheasants, and was taking aim with his shuriken – he still didn't have the knack of the slingshot yet, so he had decided it would be more productive to stick with what he knew.

Before he could throw the shuriken, a heavy gust of wind rushed over the rough moor land. It was sharp, almost angry in spite of being nothing more than a light breeze, and the birds scattered from it in fright. Beside him however, Naruto stiffened, her eyes widening. She stood up from their hiding place amongst the sparse shrubs, darting quickly out into the wind-swept flatland.

The wind picked up, a few twigs ripping from the heather that was prolific atop the cliffs and joining the dust swirling around her; it almost seemed to take the shape of a small fox, but he shrugged it of as a trick on his eyes, because moments later it was gone, and the wind died back to the calm it had been for most of the afternoon.

"Sasuke, we're done! There's enough with those ducks you brought down earlier!" she called out, before heading back towards the path that would lead back to her cave.

Somehow, as he followed her, he could tell just by watching her back that something had gone badly wrong.

* * *

Ten minuets later, she had dumped the animals she had caught at the cave entrance for skinning later on.

Then she was was scrabbling in the shallow dirt on the overhang, frantically moulding it into a small pile, before darting back into the cave and grabbing a few of her clay spice jars, and adding pinches to the dirt.

She also took some bunches of dried herbs and crumbles some leaves of them into the dirt too. He noted that poppy seeds were the most liberal ingredient she added, and she stared at the black flecks in the pile she scooped into her hand s for a few moments. Then she blew across the dusty concoction with breath so hot even he could feel it on his own face.

They both watched as it drifted out onto the wind, but only Naruto's widened. She threw the rest of it out and stared as it swirled in the breeze. It drifted towards them, winding once around Naruto, and once around his own neck before drifting away as the breeze returned to... whatever it had been before. He was loathe to use the word normal whenever Naruto was concerned.

Sasuke had never seen her make a prediction before, but she had told him a little about it, so he knew what had just occurred. Naruto stood on the overhang, staring at the spot in front of her where she had cast the dust, an inexplicable expression on her face, her fist clenched in a white knuckled grasp at her side.

"Naruto... what was it...?" he asked, tentatively – the calm weather had turned blustery again, angrily so.

Her head turned towards him, and she looked almost reluctant to tell him the words that escaped from her lips.

"Madara... he's planning to invade Yamanaka territory... he's told Chidori it was a Yamanaka that killed you, not an Inuzuka and... You have to go back Sasuke; you have to go home..."

The clouds rolled above his head, letting out a dull ominous rumble that matched the chill in his blood; his father was so mad he'd invade Yamanaka territory? No, that wasn't his concern; his concern was what the man had told his daughter! She knew that her mother's clan hated the Uchiha all the more for their marriage! She was smart, but she was still a child! Considering how long he had been gone...

"...You have to go home Sasuke! The boss man sent me that message! I can't go back yet, not for another three-hundred years, but your father needs to be stopped... I haven't been told the long and the straight of it, but if he succeeds in invading Yamanaka land... Sasuke, you have to go! He's using your daughter to start this! You have to go!" Naruto continued.

Her face and demeanour were all the expression he had never seen on her face before; panic, fear, worry, and the impending loom of danger. She didn't look like she wanted to say any of the words she spoke, but she spoke with command in her voice. She spoke like he wasn't the only one who had no option in what she had just told him.

"What do you mean you can't go back? If he's really planning to invade Yamanaka land... I can't stop him all by myself! Why can't you stop him? That's why you're here isn't it? Why do have I to..." he asked, his tongue freezing on the word _'leave'_ as a streak of lightning flashed across the sky, rain starting to pelt against the rocks.

It wasn't in an accusatory tone, but his daughter aside, how on earth was he supposed to stop his father? He'd never understood the man, and he was probably nearer two hundred years old than one. How was he supposed to stop him?

Naruto, for her part, didn't look like she was insulted; she just looked guilty. Her eyes had always seemed ancient, but now her face looked weary with guilt that seemed just as old.

"When a demon betrays the clan they are given to watch over... they're banished from direct contact with humans for five hundred years. I can't go back by myself... Well I could, but... the consequences of doing so are not something to be taken lightly... I want to fix this mess, it's my fault in the first place, but I can't go back...!" she replied through gritted teeth.

Her eyes were red, and somehow her whisker marks seemed more... they didn't look more prominent than usual but there was definitely something there that added to the heavy, dense chakra surfacing in her frustration. She refused to look him in the eye, but his own reluctance to meet hers kept him from seeing it.

He knew nothing about this _'Boss Man'_ Naruto talked about, but the fact that Naruto even _had_ a superior told him they were not a being to mess with. That being said, he cared more about his daughter than some nameless figure he'd never met. His father came behind the nameless figure, but he was still a factor he should care about.

In spite of these overwhelming factors however, the notion of leaving the small cave, leaving Naruto, made his fire natured blood run icy cold. The notion had been growing on him in the past few days, but now that necessity was there, he knew with stark clarity that he didn't want to leave.

He had to leave though, if only because he was not going to leave his daughter in the hands of his father. He still didn't want to leave though. It made him sick to think that he would have to leave Naruto for any length of time at all now. It had sneaked up on him, and he had certainly not expected it but... he'd fallen in love with her.

He, Sasuke Uchiha, son and heir of Madara Uchiha, had fallen in love with a demon. A crazy one, one with no sense of propriety, or any great love for his clan, but he loved her. She hated his family,the very clan she had been given to watch over; it was a most stupid thing to do, but he'd gone and done it all the same.

He glanced towards Naruto, trying to keep the sudden realisation from showing on his face more than it needed to, but he knew he was failing. Many of the more important events in his life had been ruled over by his emotions, something rather odd for an Uchiha, and this moment was no exception.

Naruto stared at him, shock broaching onto her face for a few moments, before her own attempt at keeping her emotions to herself crumpled, and she pressed their lips together. He ran an arm around her waist, his fingers at the base of her neck, trying to deepen the kiss as much as he could.

He knew how she felt already – his rain-soaked hair and clothing were testament to just how conflicted she was – but now it was a secure thought in his mind. It made him want to leave even less. He had been reluctant moments ago, but having his feeling being reciprocated... how the hell was he supposed to _leave?_

Naruto pulled away after a few moments, but she didn't shrug of his arms when he pulled her close and let his head fall onto her shoulder, hiding the tearing emotions that were playing across his face.

"You say I have to go home but that place isn't home Naruto... I don't think it ever was, but now... you can't tell me to go home. Even my daughter wouldn't call that place home... so don't tell me to go back home when..."

When he was already home. How was he supposed to go back there, and stay there? How was he supposed to do that? He stood there, holding Naruto against him with an iron hold for what seemed like hours before he felt her tense up and then break the hold; she did not run away however.

Instead she wound her arms around his neck; rain soaked her own features, so it was only the minor hitches in her throat that betrayed her sobs.

"Sasuke... you can't stay here; your daughter needs you right now, she's terrified, and angry, and she needs to know her father isn't dead before Madara... he's sending her to her death Sasuke! You have to go back for her!" she insisted in a quiet, if not completely calm voice.

He knew that. Of course he knew that. And he still felt horrible because he didn't want to leave.

Tightening his arms around her, he was taken by surprise when Naruto kissed him again; there was much more force in it than before. A kind of desperation in it. Desperation he responded to and only woke up from when Naruto was pushing him back into her cave, specifically through the crevice into the hollow where she slept.

He'd never been allowed in there before, and that she was dragging him in now was almost cruel; she was letting him in when she was telling him he had to leave?

"Naruto-"  
"Don't" she interrupted, stopping his protests by pressing her lips against his own.

She broke the contact, her fingers entangling themselves amongst the black strands of hair that framed his face, her fingertips gently smoothing over his cheeks. She kissed him again, with a little more force than before, but still warily. Slowly, carefully, he let his hands mirror her own, pressing his lips into the touch if her own.

He had to leave. He knew that. Naruto knew that. They both knew it, despite their personal desires, he would have to leave. It didn't have to be tonight though; it was a small blessing, but not one neither of them planned on passing up.

* * *

;_;

_**I didn't like writing this chapter! This flashback is starting to get sad! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it even more when I remember I've still to write the death scenes! Waaaaaaah!**_

_**...And yet I continue to churn out angsty stories with stuff like this... That's probably an indication of writing masochism. Even my happy story (Insider) has angst! I can't get away from it! Let's not even mention Blurred Sound, Dichotomy, or ADG... I think it's the opposite way around for those stories... -_-;**_

_**I know, angst is needed for plot and realism, otherwise characters would be Maru-Sues, stories would just be fluffly fluff with no depth whatsoever, and therefore not even worth reading unless it be in a mini drabble. I can't even write a one shot though; I tried that again – twice. I failed miserably – twice. I have the stories started for when Insider and Dichotomy finish though, so I suppose it worked out I the end.**_

_**Title is '**_**Heart On My Sleeve****_' By Olly Murs; I don't think it helped me stay cheerful – that song makes me tear ducts start to itch. Like the one Adele had at number one over here in Britland for ages – the one at the Brits. The name escapes me at the moment*sob* Why are all my favourite songs sad ones?_**

**_Anyway, I know it's been a while since I updated this story (dodges kunai), but I hoped you liked it _:]_  
Nat.  
xxx_**


End file.
